Hip Resurfacing:Spinal anesthesia vs General anesthesia

[alst]

Hello board. I wonder what would be your advice regarding question of Spinal anesthesia vs
General anesthesia for the hip resurfacing surgery that is scheduled for November
I've heard a lot of recommendation about Spinal anesthesia, but would like feedback from
from people who actually used either of these. Thank you much for the feedback and best to all.

[Tarhoo2]

For both my BHR's the anesthesiologist pushed the epidural, saying I'd be so much more alert in recovery. I've never had problems with general anesthesia and didn't particularly care about being "alert" after surgery, so I chose general.

[TAJ]

I had both when my right hip was resurfaced Sept 20 (3.5 weeks ago) by Dr. Schmultzried in Los Angeles.  The anesthesiologist told me that this is his preferred method, as it gives half strength of each and therefore avoids the unpleasantness of either method going full strength.  

He knocked me out with a light dose of general first, then I guess stuck me with the epidural after.  I don't remember a thing and did not have any pain at all when I woke up.  I did have an upset stomach (threw up four times) the first day which was not pleasant (due to the epidural they said), but I can imagine how bad it would have been with full strength spinal tap.  My full experience is under Hip Talk -> Hip Stories

I'm just starting to walk unaided now and all the previous arthritis pain is gone.  I am very happy and am looking forward to full recovery.  Good luck to you.  I think you will be very happy too when recovery is complete.



  

[pc]

i had a spinal. it made sense when explained to me before surgery. they gave me a little versed and that's the last thing that i remembered before being aware in the recovery room. other than the odd feeling of my legs not working for a couple hours after surgery it was painless and quite simple. i am not opposed to general, but i liked the idea of not having tubes and such needed with general. i didn't experience any post op upset stomach issues as well. i have had the drug versed several times; it's very enjoyable.

[B.I.L.L.]

I had a spinal after they talked me into it, like Tarhoo2 I had no intention of wanting to know what was going on. I do have a memory of lying on the table and hearing a high pitched hammering noise though, almost like a dream but I distinctly remember the noise, it was a high pitched noise like if you were trying to pound a stake into concrete hahaha, and I could sense lots of activity around me. No big deal it's not like I felt anything but it is a strange memory....   

[Gino]

For my right hip resurface in June I had a spinal below and general up top, a shot of versed just before all this. The tops of my thighs were very numb for 2 months, worse on the left (unoperated). In the last month or so it has subsided to about 5% left leg, 2% right leg. I had awful shooting and burning pain in my left hip area for several weeks after the surgery. Oxy helped a little for that, but not much. I'm figuring it had to do with my two bum discs in my lumbar area (right where the spinal goes) and sciatica, which is predominantly on my left side/leg. I'm waiting to hear from the anesthesiologists about a different plan before my left hip gets done in two weeks, I don't want to go through that again, or worse.

[leggy]

Hi all, B.I.L.L i had just the same thing, i was sleeping under sedation, but heard what sounded like a hammer & chisel being used, it did not scare me & i went straight off to sleep again, must be the noise rousing us a little, but as you say, a strange memory.

I wanted spinal rather than general, because of the after effects of general.
I had no sickness whatsoever, after being first down i was sat up eating lunch at 12.00,
I also put this down to refusing pain meds with morphine, i just had paracetemol & ibuprofen ( think that is advil in the US ) there was not much pain anyway. I went in for 5 days & came out in 2.
We do not have the same choices of surgeons, type of device etc over here, not unless we want to pay for it all privately, just a choice of hospital, it is difficult to find info on the surgeons themselves. Luckily for me I seemed to have a good surgeon who specialises in hips. I had to have a full THR, but am posting on here as no one seems to use the Total Hip Talk site much. I had uncemented, ceramic on ceramic, which i understand are larger heads over here. I am making a very good recovery, 6 weeks in, just using a stick for walking outside, nothing indoors. I personally would recommend spinal v general
Leggy.

[ReneeP]

Can anyone tell me how long it takes the spinal to wear off?  How soon can you feel your legs enough to walk?  I REALLY want to avoid using a bedpan, and my surgeon doesn't have his patients catheterized.

[jgenese]

Being a male it did help the first night with a catheter but I had to get it out the next morning do to extreme uncomfort!!
I had the spinal with light anestesia and let me tell you I wasn't able to get out of bed. I came out of surgery at 3PM and didn't have feeling for hours. I was able to walk up and down the hall with a walker the next day and go to the bathroom. Even if you get the catheter for the first night it will make it so much easier. You'll be so medicated you wont care!

[jack]

Like the OP I asked questions and made my decision prior to surgery. I choose the spinal. I have not had trouble with general but the spinal sounded way better to me.

As they were wheeling me to recovery I awoke. I of course had no feeling from the waist down and with the pain meds I was totally relaxed. This was the absolute best that I had felt in years pain wise since there was none!! I will never forget that feeling, it was great.

If memory serves and my recollection is clear, I would have to say that in 4-5 hours the spinal was nearly done. I hated to see it go in some ways.   

This would be my choice again if I had it to do all over.

[emichel]

Just last week I scheduled a Hip Replacement (not resurfacing, though that was my initial intention -- more on my reasoning for that to be found elsewhere on this board), for January 19th.  The issue of type of anasthesia seems relevant to either surgery.  Since I hope to be able to do the second side in a week or two after the first (the surgeon says we have to wait and see how I recover), I figure that a spinal would probably help me bounce back faster.  However... 1) I am terrified of needles and 2) I am terrified of the idea of hearing bone saws during surgery. 

It sounds like people on here have had really positive results with spinal anasthesia.  Lucky for me, I guess, I have had limited experience with surgery.  All I know is, about a year and a half ago I had a bunch of teeth extracted so I could get dentures.  I think they just gave me IV valium.  It turned out to be kind of upsetting.  It did not hurt at all, but I was aware of a lot of commotion going on around me, and I remember trying to indicate that I wanted them to put me under more.  They just kept saying "we're almost done", and I was feeling "I don't give a sh*t that you're almost done, just put me under".  On the other hand, many years ago when I had my wisdom teeth pulled, I think I was given just a valium IV as well, but they could have cut my head off and I wouldn't have cared.

Someone told me to ask for Verced, and it sounds like most people on here who have had spinals did not feel anything.  I'm just scared, is all.  Did anyone have a bad experince with spinals that I should know about?

[emichel]

Just for clarification... in addition to the IV valium I had some kind of local anasthetic, of course.

[alst]

Hello to all,
My BHR surgery took place as scheduled on Nov-16 with Dr. Schmitt in Huron Valley Sinai Hospital in Commerce, MI. Based on the majority of replies received i opted for the spinal anesthesia. The last thing i remember in the operation room was time 8:43AM and nurse telling me to face her and arch my back, so they can freeze the area ...I woke up 11:25AM in the recovery room with absolutely clear head  ( check time was the first thing i did), no dizziness or any other negative effects of sedation. Could clear communicate and read tags with the names of people around me and no any recollection of the operation whatsoever. I still did not feel my legs. The nurse told me to start trying to wiggle my toes. It took about another 20-to-25 minutes before the feelings start coming back and i was able to wiggle toes. I was moved to the floor to my room at 12:05PM. My pain was never above 4 (of course everyone's scale is different...) and I never used the pump with narcotics, which helped to eliminate any other possible complications like constipation, nausea and etc. Physical therapy started next day after surgery from just sitting on the bed (i need to mention to be very careful as some level of dizziness is ALWAYS present the first time) and then taking a short walk to the door and back (pay attention how you breeze do not hold your breath) and then sitting for an hour in a chair with a pillow under your back to completely "clear the head" and wear off to regain good balance with the second session of physical therapy same day in the afternoon in the physical therapy department. I was able to do all the required exercises to be sent home on 18-Nov. All in all, based on my experience, I would highly recommend to use spinal anesthesia and Dr. Schmitt's team for your BHR, especially for people living in MI. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Al     
 

[jack]

That's Great!

Congrats.... before you know it surgery will be a distant memory. Abide by the Doctors rules and you should do just fine.