Anaesthesia in hip resurfacing

Since hip resurfacing arthroplasty is usually performed on younger and more active patients, the anaesthetic methods can be adjusted accordingly, to permit a lower level of hypotension during the operation in order to minimize blood loss even with simultaneous bilateral hip resurfacing. Since we started using a stringent anaesthesia protocol, we have lowered our transfusion rates to almost zero. We try to reduce the blood loss by the use of controlled hypotension and by the use of tranexamic acid, and if there is a risk for blood loss we use cell saving techniques. Specific anaesthetic measures for unilateral and bilateral hip resurfacing and for revision of hip resurfacing are described in this chapter. Analgesic measures, including patient controlled intravenous analgesia and epidural anaesthesia, regional analgesia and local wound infiltration are also discussed.