The use of regional anesthesia compared with general anesthesia was not associated with lower 30-day mortality, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
The retrospective cohort study involved patients 50 years or older who were undergoing hip fracture surgery at general acute-care hospitals in New York State. The researchers analyzed 10,757 matched patient pairs, in which the pairs included a patient who lived near a hospital specializing in regional anesthesia techniques and a patient who lived near a hospital that specialized in general anesthesia techniques, according to a Medscape article.
According to the study, 583 of the matched patients who lived near a regional anesthesia–specialized hospital died as compared to 629 of the matched patients who lived near a general anesthesia–specialized hospital. The study also found that regional anesthesia was associated with a 0.6-day shorter length of stay than general anesthesia.
More Articles on Quality:
Despite Guidelines, Antibiotics Prescribed at High Rate for Bronchitis
New Pathogen-Identification Method Leads to Cost Savings: Study
Kaiser South Sacramento Patients Potentially Exposed to Whooping Cough