Spinal anaesthesia

[phillipl]

Hi all,

I am receiving a BMHR on the 22nd June. I have been informed that I will have spinal anaesthesia for this procedure. Can anyone tell me their experiences with this type of anaesthesia. Any pain?, side effects etc. Also where you aware of what was going on during the surgery.

Many thanks

Phil

[msmith]

I'd be interested in hearing about this as well, since I've been told I'll be having the same, though he said ti would be an epidural.. sorry if I've spelt that wrong.

[Lake girl]

I've had two epidural's but they were for C-sections when I had my kids. They put a curtain up so you can see what's happening. I was totally dead from the chest down, but you can feel a tugging sensation(which was wierd).

I know it's a completly different procedure but  hope that it helps!
:) ;)
Lake girl

[Pat Walter]

Hi Phil
Welcome to Hip Talk.

Who is giving you your BMHR - McMinn, Bose or someone else?

I have a couple stories about people getting BMHRs from Mr. McMinn on the main website.

I hope you will keep in touch and let us know how things go for you.  The BMHR is pretty new and we are always interested in people who receive them.

Hope you will share more information with us.

I had a general when I had my BHR with Dr. De Smet in Belgium.  I knew nothing.  I am pretty sure they will put you out during surgery.  If you are worried about it - be sure to tell you surgeon you want to be completely out and not know what is going on.  Be sure to tell them what your concerns are so you don't have to worry. Most doctors are good about doing what you want.  I also  get nauseated easily and told them to make sure to give me meds so I did not get sick. They did.

Good Luck.

Pat

[phillipl]

Hi Pat,

I'm having the surgery here in Brisbane, Australia. It is being performed by Dr. Hugh English. I understand that he is one of the leading hip surgeons here in Australia. He is a wonderful and caring man and easy to approach. He certainly listens to patients concerns.

I will let you all know how it goes. Just  8 days to go and then back on the road to normality !

Cheers

Phil

[Pat Walter]

I want to wish you good luck with your upcoming surgery.  It sounds as if you have found a great surgeon.  I am glad that the BMHR is being used by more and more surgeons around the world.

Keep in touch.

Pat

[Tarhoo2]

My anesthesiologists recommended spinal, but having had general without any problem with after-effects I opted for that.  Frankly, I could not have cared less about waking clear-headed.  I think either option is okay, depending upon the individual.

[obxpelican]

Personally I think the spinal is a safer alternative and you awake from it like you awoke from a nice nap, it took almost no time for me to wake up and be cognitive.  I had a choice of being totally awake, or any amount of alertness I choose.  I chose the totally out sleep option.  You wake up with no tubes snaked down your throat or anything else.

I was given a drug that made me relax to the point you could have told me you were going to do most anything to me and I would not have cared.  When I was wheeled in all I remember was a good sized nurse pulling me forward towards her and the anesthetist telling me that he was performing the spinal, after that it's all a blur to me, next thing I knew I was waking up asking when the surgery would start.  They told me it was over and I wanted to get up and try out my new hip right there.

With a spinal there is a VERY small possibilty that you can end up with a nagging headache afterwards but that is rare now a days.

Good luck on your operation.



Chuck

[phillipl]

Thanks Chuck,

I too want the totally out sleep option, I really don't want to know what's going on!

Phil

[Tekka]

Hi,

I had the same procedure as Chuck and it was excellent, I woke up clear headed and was fully aware of everything.

Good luck

Best wishes

Terry

[phillipl]

Hi Terry,

I was just reading your account of the surgery with some interest. Glad you are back on the road to recovery.

Cheers

Phil

[Tekka]

Phil,

I was sharing the landing in the BMI hospital with a couple of guys who had received a BHMR the day before my BHR, they were on the same recovery curve as the BHR patients, in actual fact one of the guys went home a day earlier. The BMHR seems to be a brilliant method of keeping the femoral head for patients who are not a candidate for a standard re-surf, I signed my consent form for Mr McMinn to use the BMHR if required.

Have you seen the op on you tube, it is really different !!!, the main point Phil is to get pain free, I sit here typing, leaning on my left side and it is truely life changing mate.

Keep us up to date.

Terry

[Barbara]

I had bilateral surgeries 2 months apart and opted for spinal anaesthesia. Being a nurse and witnessing many anaesthesis over the years I believe it is the better option. I have worked in the OR and seen many anesthesia's being administered and have also taken care of many, many patients through the years post anaesthesia. I was more scared of having a general anaesthesia, as it has so many side effects, than the actual surgery. I discussed it at length with my anaesthetist and he agreed that he would recommend spinal, especially because I was going to repeat the surgery in 2 months.
I was completely sedated throughout and when I wakened had no pain or nausea. By the time the spinal wears off the IV pain medication is well on board. Spinal anaesthesia of course carries it's risks but I believe the risks are much less than with general. I would always recommend to people to talk to their anaesthetist about having a spinal as opposed to a general.

Barbara

[stevel]

I had a combined spinal-epidural.  The spinal is fast acting and the epidural allows for patient post-op pain control for a couple of days as they leave the tube attached and the patient can administer booster doses every 10 minutes (regulated of course).  I spent about five hours in the post-anesthesia care unit until the numbness in my feet wore off before I was moved to the hospital room.  I had no nausea and woke up clear headed.

[Tarhoo2]

Just to respond briefly to Chuck's post, I had no tubes in my nose or throat after general anesthesia.  Nor was I nauseous, although that's not uncommon.  Ultimately, people have to go the route they're comfortable with.

[msmith]

If i'm given the choice, I'll not take the general anesthetic 9 year ago, i had to go in for an op, nothing to do with current problem, and the general anesthetic, didn't agree with.