Comparison between General Anesthesia and Epidural Anesthesia in Inguinal Herniorrhaphy Regarding the Incidence of Urinary Retention

Background: Inguinal herniorrhaphy is among the most common type of surgeries in adults. One of the important side effects of herniorrhaphy is post-operative urinary retention (UR). The incidence of urinary retention after herniorrhaphy may vary depending on the method of anesthesia. Methods: This is a double blind randomized clinical trial conducted on 80 patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair. Half of the cases were generally anesthetized (GA) and the other half underwent continues lumbar epidural anesthesia (EA). The epidural catheter was inserted before the procedure and remained for 24 hours post-operative period. The need for urinary catheterizing either in post anesthetic care unit (PACU) or in ward was compared between two groups, beside the incidence of urination in, the mean interval between the end of surgery and first urination. Also the duration of the surgery, length of PACU admission, surgeon and patients satisfaction with the method of their anesthesia was compared between the groups. Results: The incidence of urination in PACU was one patient (2.5%) in EA and 5 patients (12.5%) in GA (P=0.09). The mean interval between the end of surgery and first urination was 3.40 ± 2.30 in EA and 3.06 ± 2.50 in GA (P=0.2). The incidence of urinary retention in PACU was 4 patients (10%) in EA and one patient (2.5%) in GA (P=0.1). Conclusion: According to this study the incidence of urinary retention is not higher in epidural anesthesia compared with general anesthesia according to statistical significance.