Original paper
The role of the regional anaesthesia performed for orthopaedic procedures in patients with rheumatic diseases

The aim of this work was to estimate the role of regional anesthesia for orthopaedic surgery. 719 patients with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis who underwent orthopaedic procedures in 2004 were included to study. The orthopaedic procedures comprised: total hip or knee arthroplasty and other joints (hand, foot) plastic and reconstruction surgery. Most of operations (95%) were performed under regional anesthesia (spinal – 83%, brachial plexus block – 12%). General anesthesia was performed only in 2% of patients and total intravenous anesthesia in 3% of cases. Postoperative pain was treated by continuous epidural anesthesia in 6% patients. Our observations demonstrate that regional anesthesia provided excellent analgesia during and after orthopaedic surgery without increasing the risk of complications as compared with the general anesthesia. The patients who had suffered from arthritis better tolerated orthopaedic surgery performed under regional anesthesia.