Cost Effectiveness of Regional Anesthesia in Carotid Endarterectomy

The purpose of this prospective study was to assess safety, efficacy, and hospital costs (excluding medications) and laboratory tests related to general (GA) and regional anesthesia (RA) for carotid endarterectomy (CEA). One hundred patients underwent CEA; 50 received GA and 50 received RA. Thirty-eight men (eight diabetic) and 12 women (two diabetic), with an average age of 62.4 (47 to 79) years comprised the GA group; 35 men (six diabetic) and 15 women (one diabetic), with an average age of 64.1 (51 to 74) years comprised the RA group. Twenty-one patients (17 men, 4 women) in the GA and 24 patients (19 men, 5 women) in the RA group had hypertension. Every patient had some stigmata of cardiac disease. Patients receiving GA for CEA spent an average of 1.2 days in the surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 6.1 days in a regular hospital bed, for an average cost of $4547. The patients who underwent CEA under RA had an average of 0.1 ICU days and 4.1 regular hospital days, for a cost of $2067. RA saved $2480 per patient and $124,000 in our study group, with no increase in mortality or morbidity rates (P less than 0.001). RA is superior to GA in cost-effectiveness for patients undergoing CEA.