General Anesthesia With or Without Local Ear Block in Middle Ear Surgeries

General Anesthesia With or Without Local Ear Block in Middle Ear Surgeries; A Randomised, Double-blind Trial

Background: Proper selection of anesthetic technique is important in middle ear microsurgery. Controlled hypotension in ear surgery decreases blood loss with improved quality of the surgical field, however, it is associated with resistance to vasodilators and delayed recovery from anesthesia. The use of local anesthetic technique alone in middle ear surgery decreases bleeding and reduces postoperative pain, however, pain on injection, noise, and head-neck position had been reported with the increased risk of patient injuries.

This study aimed to compare the effects of local ear block combined with general anesthesia versus general anesthesia alone, regarding intraoperative hemodynamics, anesthetic consumption, recovery characteristics, postoperative pain, adverse effects and postoperative complications.

Eighty adult patients undergoing middle ear surgery (tympanoplasty with or without mastoidectomy) were enrolled in the study. Patients were randomized into two equal groups (40 patients each). A standardized general anesthetic technique was used in both groups. Group I, received general anesthesia combined with ear block using 10 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine and (Group II), received general anesthesia alone combined with ear block using 10 ml saline. Propofol 2-3 mg /Kg was administered to induce anesthesia, which was maintained using isoflurane. Hemodynamic variables, surgical conditions including the quality of the operative field, intraoperative fentanyl, vasodilators (propranolol and nitroglycerine), isoflurane consumption, recovery time, postoperative pain, total analgesics consumption and postoperative complications were recorded

Inclusion Criteria:

• ASA I or II status,
• scheduled for tympanoplasty with or without mastoidectomy

Exclusion Criteria:

• patient refusal,
• known allergy to local anesthetics
• cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, hypertension and valvular heart diseases) --- cerebrovascular diseases (including transient ischemic attacks), renal, hepatic insufficiency or coagulation abnormality.