Factors influencing length of stay after primary total hip replacement: the role of anaesthesia and the anaesthetist.

Abstract

We studied 121 consecutive total hip replacements (THRs) in 109 patients in order to establish the influence of anaesthetic technique, anaesthetist concerned, age of the patient, and body mass index (BMI) on the length of hospital stay after primary total hip replacement. Patients received either general anaesthesia alone (50 THRs) or a combination of general and local anaesthesia (lumbar plexus block; 71 THRs) from three separate anaesthetists. Our analysis showed that those patients who received a combination of anaesthesia showed shorter median length of hospital stay (three days) than those who received general anaesthesia alone (five days; p<0.0001). The age of the patient was also critical (p=0.003) as was the anaesthetist concerned (p=0.01). BMI was unimportant.