Beneficial and harmful effects of spinal versus general anaesthesia in patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty.
Effective and safe anaesthesia is fundamental to perioperative care. Hip and knee arthroplasty are among the most frequently performed surgical procedures worldwide and are typically performed under either spinal or general anaesthesia. However, high-quality comparative evidence regarding the benefits and harms of these anaesthetic techniques remains limited and inconclusive. Both techniques are associated with short- and long-term risks, including postoperative nausea and vomiting, hypotension, nerve injury, acute kidney injury, and respiratory and cardiovascular complications. In addition, they may differentially modulate the surgical stress response, potentially influencing postoperative recovery and risk of complications. Objective: To compare the benefits and harms of spinal versus general anaesthesia in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement. We hypothesise that spinal anaesthesia results in better postoperative outcomes than general anaesthesia. Intervention: Patients undergoing elective primary hip or knee arthroplasty will be randomised to receive either spinal or general anaesthesia, with randomisation stratified by participating centre. Design: The SPIGA trial is an investigator-initiated, multicentre, randomised, superiority clinical trial. Participants will be randomly allocated at a 1:1 ratio using a central, computer-generated randomisation sequence. A total sample size of 3000 participants was determined using simulation-based methods to provide at least 90% power to detect a prespecified minimally clinically important difference, corresponding to an increase of one hospital-free day in at least 10% of participants at a two-sided significance level of 0.05. Planned sub-studies * Short-term perioperative outcomes (0-24h postoperatively) * Stratified analysis of anaesthetic regimens * Impact of preoperative clinical frailty
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Spinal anaesthesia according to local practice, including optional sedation with sedative-hypnotic pharmacological agents
General anaesthesia according to local practice
Hospital-free days within 30 days
Defined as the number of days within the first 30 days following hip or knee arthroplasty surgery during which a participant is alive and not admitted to a hospital.
Time frame: Postoperative day 0-30
Major complications
A major complication is defined as a major intra- or postoperative adverse event occurring from the initiation of anaesthesia through 30 days postoperatively.
Time frame: Postoperative day 0-30
Quality of Recovery
Quality of Recovery-15 questionnaire (QoR-15)
Time frame: 24 hours postoperatively
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Enrollment
3,000