Comparison of Postoperative Outcomes Between Monitored Anesthesia Care and General Anesthesia in Closed Reduction of Nasal Fracture.

Fracture of nasal bone is among the most common facial bone fractures. Reduction of nasal bone fracture is able to be performed under local or general anesthesia. The aim of this study is to compare monitored anesthetic care (MAC) and general anesthesia (GA) based on intraoperative vital signs, and the adverse effects after closed reduction of nasal bone fractures.The authors performed a retrospective study of 45 patients who underwent a closed reduction of nasal bone fracture between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. Patients are divided into an MAC group (n = 17) or GA group (n = 28). A sore throat, postoperative pain scores, nausea, vomiting, hospital stay, operation time, and the result of surgery are compared between the groups. All the patients have interviewed their satisfaction of aesthetic and functional outcome.The operation time and hospital stay were lower in the MAC group. There is no difference in a sore throat, postoperative pain score, and the result of surgery significantly. In the MAC and GA groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the postoperative cosmetic and functional satisfaction scores.Closed reduction of nasal bone fracture using MAC is as safe and efficient as GA. However, MAC anesthesia may not be feasible if airway discomfort due to bleeding is expected, or fracture is severe and multiple manipulations are required. Therefore, MAC is considered to be a good alternative when patients undergoing short-term or small operations do not prefer general anesthesia.