Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Sep 2016
Review Meta AnalysisThe Impact of Neuraxial Versus General Anesthesia on the Incidence of Postoperative Surgical Site Infections Following Knee or Hip Arthroplasty: A Meta-Analysis.
Recent studies have yielded conflicting results on the association between anesthesia technique and incidence of postoperative surgical site infections (SSIs) after knee arthroplasty (KA) and hip arthroplasty (HA). Our group conducted a meta-analysis of all available studies to clarify this potential association. ⋯ Synthesis of the existing evidence supports the overall beneficial effects of neuraxial anesthesia in decreasing the development of SSI after joint arthroplasty (KA and HA). Given the limitations associated with interpretation of data from large observational trials, further investigation using prospective randomized trial design is warranted in this promising area.