Segmental thoracic spinal anesthesia versus general anesthesia for breast cancer surgery – a prospective randomized comparative study.

General anesthesia (GA) is considered to be the standard technique for breast cancer surgery. However, the associated higher stress response, higher incidence of nausea, vomiting and increasing length of hospitalization demand for an alternative technique. Regional anesthesia techniques can attenuate surgical stress response and provide superior analgesia, with higher patient satisfaction and lesser incidence of nausea, vomiting and reduction in postoperative opioid consumption. Since, patients have motor control over the legs, which decrease anxiety and exhibit a high level of satisfaction. Additionally, direct protective action of local anesthetics on cancer cell migration is also been observed. Also, it can have a long-term effect in decreasing complications such as chronic pain.

Few studies have assessed the efficacy of segmental thoracic spinal anesthesia (STSA) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy and breast cancer surgery with axillary lymph node clearance concluding that the technique could be a potential alternative to GA. So, we decided to study STSA as the sole regional anesthetic technique and to compare it with GA for breast cancer surgery.

We hypothesized that STSA could be a potential alternative to GA in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery.