General anaesthesia with multimodal principles versus intrathecal analgesia with conventional principles in total knee arthroplasty: a consecutive, randomized study

Postoperative outcomes following major surgery are influenced by surgical and anaesthesiological factors. While techniques of minimal invasive surgery have been associated with improved outcome, the techniques of minimal invasive, multimodal anaesthesia have not been adequately investigated. The aim of this study was to compare intrathecally based anaesthesia (ITA) including standardized, traditional intraoperative and postoperative care, with, general anaesthesia (GA) combined with intraoperative glucocorticoids, exclusion of intraoperative tourniquet and indwelling urethral catheter, and, an accelerated postoperative care regime. Outcome variables in the study were pain, requirement of analgesics, global satisfaction score and length-of-hospital stay.