Abstract
Background: Inguinal hernia is a medical condition where intra-abdominal tissue (such as abdominal fat or part of the intestine) protrudes through a weak spot or defect in the lower abdominal wall into the inguinal canal (the groin) is called inguinal hernia .Not only the surgery technique, but also the type of anesthesia is a major determinant for hernial repair success. Spinal anesthesia and general anesthesia are both routinely used with each having its own pros and cons with respect to hemodynamics, postoperative pain, and postoperative profile of recovery. General anesthesia was found to be better for intra-operative pain control due to complete unconsciousness during surgery while patients who received spinal anesthesia experienced less post-operative nausea and vomiting and better recovery. Objective: To assess and compare the effectiveness of spinal and general anesthesia in the inguinal hernia surgery. Methodology: Comparative Analytical Cross-Sectional Study to get information from inguinal hernia patients for four months that were operated upon under general anesthesia and spinal anesthesia. Information on demographic characteristic, VAS ( to measure post-operative pain ) and NRS ( to measure headache severity ) was obtained. Monitoring was carried out continuously for the haemodynamic parameters and any kind of complications were documented and taken care of. Results: Results demonstrated that spinal anesthesia group has better outcomes: 77% were pain free at 24 hours compared to 38.5% in the general anesthesia group; who were also less nauseous or vomiting at 24 hours (46.2% vs 53.8%) and were more satisfied (53.8% vs 30.7%). Assessment of postoperative pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) showed comparable pain relief in both the General Anesthesia (GA) and Spinal Anesthesia (SA) groups at 2 and 12 hours after surgery. The GA group demonstrated slightly better pain relief at 6 hours (23.1% vs. 15.4%), whereas the SA group showed superior pain control at 24 hours, with 69.2% of patients achieving better pain relief compared with 53.8% in the GA group. Similarly, headache assessment using the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) indicated improved analgesia in the SA group at 2 hours (30.7% vs. 7.7%) and 24 hours (77.0% vs. 38.5%), while the GA group showed slightly better pain control at 6 hours (38.4% vs. 23.1%). At 12 hours, both groups demonstrated similar pain control, with 46.2% of patients in each group reporting satisfactory pain relief .Overall patient satisfaction was higher among patients receiving Spinal Anesthesia, with approximately 69% reporting complete satisfaction Spinal anesthesia had better postoperative recovery and comfort as compared with general anesthesia. Conclusion: The study revealed that spinal anesthesia and general anesthesia are safe and effective methods to be used for the elective inguinal hernia repair surgery. But spinal anesthesia was superior in post-operative pain management, complications like nausea and vomiting along with speedy recovery and satisfaction of the patients in comparison to general anaesthetic. Hence in cases where clinically suitable, spinal anesthesia may be a more reliable and safer alternative to general anesthesia for elective inguinal hernia repair.