Effect of General vs. Regional Anesthesia on Mortality, Complications, and Prognosis in Older Adults Undergoing Hip Fracture Surgery: A Propensity-Score-Matched Cohort Analysis

The choice of the type of anesthesia (TOA) used in hip fracture surgery in older adults is still controversial. The main question is not whether regional anesthesia (RA) or general anesthesia (GA) is superior, but in which patients the type of anesthesia may affect the outcome after surgery. In this retrospective analysis of surgically treated intertrochanteric fracture patients, we used propensity score matching (PSM) to investigate whether clinically relevant differences in outcomes were observed in mortality, complications, and functional outcomes between RA and GA. After screening 2934 consecutive patients, 2170 were ultimately included, including 841 in the GA group and 1329 in the RA group. After PSM, 808 remained in each group. Patients receiving GA were more prone to have a shorter duration for their operation and higher total hospital costs than patients with RA (p = 0.034 and 0.004, respectively). We also observed that the GA group has a higher rate of pulmonary complications, while the RA group has a higher rate of cardiac complications (p = 0.017 and 0.011, respectively). No significant difference was observed in mortality, functional outcomes, and other complications (all p > 0.05). The clinical innovation of this study was the potential value of GA for patients with cardiac diseases and of RA for patients with pulmonary diseases.