Objective The authors' objective was to compare the outcomes, includin
g the incidence of nausea and vomiting and the time until discharge to
home, of patients undergoing general anesthesia and thoracic epidural
anesthesia for oncologic breast procedures. Summary Background Data G
eneral anesthesia is the traditional anesthetic technique used in onco
logic breast procedures. In March 1993, the authors initiated the use
of high thoracic epidural anesthesia for patients undergoing oncologic
breast surgery and reconstructive procedures. Methods A retrospective
analysis was undertaken of 136 operations performed by one surgeon (T
.J.E.) al Brigham and Women's Hospital. A chi square analysis was used
to compare the outcomes of patients undergoing general anesthesia and
thoracic epidural anesthesia. Results Compared with general anesthesi
a, thoracic epidural anesthesia was associated with a statistically si
gnificant earlier hospital discharge (p = 0.01). For quadrantectomy/ax
illary node dissection procedures, 20 of 39 patients (51%) having thor
acic epidural anesthesia were discharged on the operative day versus 7
of 32 patients (22%) in the general anesthesia group. Furthermore, 8
of 39 patients (20%) in the thoracic epidural group experienced nausea
and/or vomiting during their hospital stay versus 18 of 32 patients (
56%) in the general anesthesia group (p = 0.002). Conclusion Thoracic
epidural anesthesia is a safe technique not associated with neurologic
or respiratory complications. The use of thoracic epidural anesthesia
for breast surgery could improve patients' recovery and reduce the co
st of these procedures.