The impact of spinal versus general anesthesia on the variability of surgical times: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Pooled result · Variability of surgical times (SD)Result — go to the resultSD smaller with spinal 6.6% 95% CI 15.8% smaller to 1.9% largerAuthors' conclusion
The results of this systematic review and meta-analysis show with high confidence that the effect of choosing spinal anesthesia on variability in surgical time, if present, is sufficiently small to have no substantive direct economic effect.
Study context
- Population
- Randomized trials of humans with general or spinal anesthesia for one category of surgical procedure, reporting means and SDs of operative durations
- Participants
- 77 included studies
- Comparison
- Single-dose spinal anesthesia vs general anesthesia
- Outcome
- Variability of surgical times (SD)
Methodological detailsrandom-effects (DerSimonian and Laird) with Knapp-Hartung adjustment, meta-regression, 96% of studies of high quality (low risk of bias) for the endpoint
- Random-effects (DerSimonian and Laird) with Knapp-Hartung adjustment
- Meta-regression
- 96% of studies of high quality (low risk of bias) for the endpoint
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
SD smaller with spinal
6.6%
95% CI 15.8% smaller to 1.9% larger
P = 0.13
Further pooled results
| Outcome | Means smaller with spinal (95% CI) | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Mean surgical times (ratio of means) | 1.1% (3.7% smaller to 1.5% larger) | P = 0.42 |
Ratio of SDs by meta-regression (study quality, year, procedure category)
- No significant association with study quality
- P = 0.39
- No significant association with year of publication
- P = 0.76
- No significant association with categories of procedures
- all five P ≥ 0.28
Ratio of means by meta-regression (study quality, year, procedure category)
- No significant association with study quality
- P = 0.47
- No significant association with year of publication
- P = 0.95
- No significant association with categories of procedures
- all five, P ≥ 0.63
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
The impact of spinal versus general anesthesia on the variability of surgical times: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Can J Anaesth. Published 11 October 2024. doi:10.
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