Reghusankar P1, Joby Thomas2
BACKGROUND
Conventionally, anaesthesia of choice for Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) has been general anaesthesia, but epidural anaesthesia is also used successfully these days. In this study, we compare our experiences of 100 cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy done under General Anaesthesia (GA) and epidural anaesthesia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Fifty cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy under epidural anaesthesia in a rural medical college hospital over a period of 1 year were compared with the same number of cases under general anaesthesia in the same medical college.
RESULTS
Our study found that laparoscopic cholecystectomy could be done safely under epidural anaesthesia or supplemented with analgesics. This study provides preliminary evidence about the efficacy of epidural anaesthesia for performing LC and it may be more beneficial for high-risk patients with cardiopulmonary diseases. All the parameters, which include duration of surgery, preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative comforts conclude that LC under epidural is a better choice than general anaesthesia especially in rural areas where cost and hospital stay are very important.
CONCLUSION
Epidural anaesthesia is a safe alternative to general anaesthesia in laparoscopic cholecystectomy with advantages of less postoperative complications, less cost and better analgesia.
