spinal vs general

[cliff]

I am having BHR resurfacing Tuesday, met with the hospital staff and so forth and they are recommending that I go under with a spinal and IV that will put me to sleep, Has anyone gone under this way? of course its still my decision what I want but most of the joint replacement surgeries they do are done this way. They said that recovery time is much smoother in the recovery and the heal process.

[hernanu]

Hi cliff, welcome to the site!

I didn't go under with a spinal first, they put an IV on me and I went down fast. Got a little goofy first, but not for long, then woke up immediately (it seemed) and was told immediately that everything had gone well.

I then composed some epically bad poetry and puns that I inflicted on my daughters by text.

You're dealing with a lot of information right now, getting ready and all. I met my anesthesiologist first and we discussed what we were doing, I basically trusted what they offered. The main thing I considered was that they did many procedures, several per day; if they were confident about it, then I was good with it.

Where are you having it done, and who is the surgeon?

[Baby Barista]

Did a lot of research on this before hand.

Waking up from a general really sucks. It in most cases requires you to be intubated, so you have an awful sore throat for a few days afterward. And the anesthesia has long lasting sedative effects that are not pleasant. But most importantly, the pain receptors are still transmitting information to your brain during the surgery. Your brain registers the pain, even though you are asleep to it.

With a spinal, that information never travels back and forth. Your brain doesn't really know your body had undergone major surgery until the spinal wears off. Through patient survey, it's been revealed that people who undergo lower extremity surgery with a spinal, report significantly less post op pain than those with a general.

You'll ultimately be fine with either one, but when I have #2 BHR installed, I will most certainly opt for a spinal once again.

Good luck.

[rubyred]

I had both. I was put out via a general through a cannula in my hand, then they gave me the spinal whilst I was out. The spinal was great, I came around and had zero pain, but you also can't move your legs for about 24 hours!

One side effect I had with the spinal, although I don't wish to say that everyone will get this, was that because you're numb from the waist downwards, I had no control or feeling of when I needed to pass water! So for the first few hours I had to be tended to by the nurses in that area. Quite shocking for me as I had no idea that would happen - no one had warned me!

[cliff]

hernanu,

Thanks for the reply, the surgeon that is doing my procedure is Dr. Steve  Lyons in Tampa, he is very experienced and has come highly reccommened. thanks for your info it is very helpful. I have had surgery in the past with general but nothing with a spinal so I guess sticking something in my back kinda spooked me out but I guess this is a popular way of going at it. I am scheduled for September 18th.  Thanks again

[cliff]

Rubyred,

I thought the same thing how am I going to pass water, well I was informed that catherter will be in during surgery, I'm not to keen on that but I guess as  long as its done while I'm out its ok. I have played Hockey for 45 of my 51 years of age and I guess this is where the body starts to breakdown but I am looking forward to getting my life back without a limp and severe pain.. thanks for the follow up.

[hoyt66]

I just had surgery tuesday . They opted for general over the block because I have a herniated disc . It wasn't  to bad. Go to sleep wake up done. My throat was really sore the first day but better now. I did have a pain pump after a I could feel my leg and it did hurt.

[cliff]

Hoyt66,

Glad things went well keep us informed of your progress...

[obxpelican]

I've had a number of generals, but when I got my HR I received a spinal and I would do it again in a heartbeat.  When you awake from a spinal it's like waking up from a nap.

Chuck

[cliff]

Chuck,

That is very comforting to hear, I appreciate the feed back. I just don't want to wake up during the surgery. Hope all is well   Thanks

[Mr.Box]

Hi Cliff, I'm going under tomorrow to have Bilateral Hip resurfacing done at HSS in NYC with Dr. Edwin Su. They do the Spinal epidural and IV sedation there also. I've had it related to the same type of sedation given to the patients of colonoscopy exams.

I've been under General before and while it was an okay experience, I much rather go with the epidural / sedation technique.

[cliff]

Mr. Box

Good luck and keep us to date on your recovery.

Cliff

[rubyred]

Rubyred,

I thought the same thing how am I going to pass water, well I was informed that catherter will be in during surgery, I'm not to keen on that but I guess as  long as its done while I'm out its ok. I have played Hockey for 45 of my 51 years of age and I guess this is where the body starts to breakdown but I am looking forward to getting my life back without a limp and severe pain.. thanks for the follow up.

I never got that option unfortunately although there was talk of that when I stopped being able to pass water for whatever reason, thankfully my body sorted itself out.

[imgetinold]

Cliff,

Ditto what Barista said.  Also, one of the things I've read is that you have a higher chance of blood clots when you go under a general.

I had the spinal and IV, and never felt the spinal....they put me to sleep before that.  I woke up and felt great.  Yes, I couldn't feel the legs for a few hours (or the full bladder), but they'll take care of you.

Good luck!

[lycraman]

Hi Cliff

I echo what Ruby said above. I had my op two days ago and had a general anaesthetic but the anaesthetist put a spinal block in whilst asleep. I woke in recovery feeling great and totally pain free and eventually went back to the ward. BP was a bit low post op so I was on a fluid drip and I had a dry mouth so was drinking a lot of water ....... what do I do about peeing I thought as I had absolutely no sensation from the mid-rift down.  Too late!  If you're not cathaterised, get a bottle in place asap and let nature take it's course on it's own!  God bless the nurses.

I found the period when the block was starting to wear off the worst part of the whole episode; not the pain (I haven't had any) but the feeling of no control over the legs (and other bits) which made me feel totally helpless.  The feeling of panic lasted for about 30 minutes until enough sensation came back in one leg to let me move it a bit.  It would have been nice to have been prepared for this before hand.  I'm sure you'll be fine.  I have to say that everything else has been fantastic, without a single problem.

[rubyred]

Hi Cliff

I echo what Ruby said above. I had my op two days ago and had a general anaesthetic but the anaesthetist put a spinal block in whilst asleep. I woke in recovery feeling great and totally pain free and eventually went back to the ward. BP was a bit low post op so I was on a fluid drip and I had a dry mouth so was drinking a lot of water ....... what do I do about peeing I thought as I had absolutely no sensation from the mid-rift down.  Too late!  If you're not cathaterised, get a bottle in place asap and let nature take it's course on it's own!  God bless the nurses.

I found the period when the block was starting to wear off the worst part of the whole episode; not the pain (I haven't had any) but the feeling of no control over the legs (and other bits) which made me feel totally helpless.  The feeling of panic lasted for about 30 minutes until enough sensation came back in one leg to let me move it a bit.  It would have been nice to have been prepared for this before hand.  I'm sure you'll be fine.  I have to say that everything else has been fantastic, without a single problem.

I agree completely. Looking back that was the worst part of the hospital side of recovery, was the sheer lack of control of my bodily functions! At least until the spinal had worn off, then I could ask for a bed pan - believe me, if you're a lady, those things are NOT comfortable to use following a BHR! But once they have you up and about and you can walk to the loo by yourself, it's easy from that point onwards.

Lycraman, I hope your surgery and recovery are going well!  Are you still in hospital?

[hernanu]

The only issue I had from the general anesthetic (I think) is that I had a nearly terminal case of the hiccups. It was brought on by my asking for and receiving ginger ale. I knew I should have given up beer for the operation.

The ginger ale did me in with continuous and very embarrassing hiccups for about three hours. It quieted down, so naturally in my opiated state, I immediately asked for more to test whether that was the problem. Three hours after that I concluded that ... indeed it was. I am a scientist, after all, sacrificed to knowledge.

My daughters concluded that I was a dolt to do this, which, after some reflection I also came to believe. Water the second time around.

[cliff]

Thanks to all that replied the information was very informative and makes me a little more comfortable going ahead, after all there is no turning back now, just looking to get a quality of life back with little or no pain.

Cliff

[Dan L]

Spinal + twilighted (with "milk of amnesia") for both my BHR's was way better than the general I had for 2 spinal fusions in the early 90's.  No post surgical nausea due to the general, awake and mostly not loopy afterwards, and no vomiting or need for oxygen.  It made a huge positive difference.  Also didn't have the general hangover for days like I did back then.

I would opt for the spinal every time, hands down. for me.

Thanks

[lyn]

I had a spinal for the first time ever. I asked why they opted for that, they said it has less side effects. When I came out of surgery I had 0 nausea. I felt better than I have, than with general anaesthesia. Lyn