Abstract

Introduction: Spinal anaesthesia (or spinal anesthesia), also called spinal
block, subarachnoid block, intradural block and intrathecal block is a form of
neuraxial regional anaesthesia involving the injection of a local anaesthetic or opioid
into the subarachnoid space, generally through a fine needle, usually 9 cm (3.5 in) long.
Epidural anesthesia is a technique that may be used as a primary surgical anesthetic or
as a resource for postoperative pain management. It is safe and relatively easy to learn
and perform.A hernia is reducible if it occurs intermittently (such as on straining or
standing) and can be pushed back into the.
Material and methods: This is a prospective, comparative and randomized study was
conducted in the anaesthesia department of a tertiary medical Hospital. All patients
were male, age between 18 to 70 years. The present study included male patients of
uncomplicated inguinal hernia with American society of anaesthesiologist (ASA) grade
1 and 2. All patients were admitted for planned surgery; they were examined and
preanesthetic check-up done. All patients were explained about the techniques of
anaesthesia for hernioplasty and where randomized into two groups. They were
operated for inguinal hernioplasty according to recognised surgical guidelines.
Results: Total time taken for performing the procedure was significantly longer with
Epidural Anaesthesia than that of Spinal Anaesthesia (8.03±0.84 Vs 3.65±0.23 minutes,
p<0.001) but onset of action was comparable in both the groups (6.84±1.08 in Spinal Vs
11.23±1.21min in Epidural p<0.001 Significant). Intraoperative fluid requirement was
statistically higher in Spinal than Epidural (1612.43±163.3 ml vs 1102.54±94.53 ml)
(p<0.0001). Duration of Surgery was significantly shorter in Spinal as compared to
Epidural (91.43±8.64 vs 114.53±11.64 mins.) (p=0.021).
Conclusion: The spinal block induces a faster and more effective analgesia as well as a
more severe motor blockage than epidural block. In Spinal Anaesthesia, the
haemodynamic fluctuations and adverse effects are larger than in Epidural
Anaesthesia. As a result, both spinal and epidural anaesthesia may be utilised safely
during day surgery.