2017 AAOS Annual Meeting: Does Anesthesia Modality Influence Recovery from Anterior Total Hip Arthroplasty? A Prospective, Randomized Trial

92 patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty were included in this randomized controlled trial to compare the quality of recovery between three different methods of anesthesia: general anesthesia, spinal/epidural anesthesia alone, or spinal anesthesia plus lumbar and sacral plexus blocks. There were no significant differences in the quality of recovery between these forms of anesthesia. The general anesthesia group demonstrated significantly greater postoperative pain and opioid consumption compared to the other two methods of anesthesia. The use of spinal/epidural anesthesia alone resulted in less time required to achieve physical therapy milestones compared to the other two forms of anesthesia.