Operative times, postanesthesia recovery times, and complications during sinonasal surgery using general anesthesia and local anesthesia with sedation.

The goal was to compare complication rates and recovery times in patients undergoing elective septoplasty or endoscopic sinus surgery using local anesthesia with sedation (LAS) versus general anesthesia (GA). A retrospective chart review of a consecutive sample of 177 patients undergoing elective septoplasty or endoscopic sinus surgery between July 1, 1994, and June 30, 1996, was carried out at our university-based outpatient surgery unit. Outcome measures included total operative time, surgical time, recovery time, and perioperative complications. Total operative and recovery times were shorter in patients undergoing LAS. The frequency of emesis, epistaxis, and nausea were less in the LAS population than in the GA population. Three patients who underwent GA required unplanned admissions. This study suggests that in selected patients undergoing sinonasal surgery, LAS may result in shorter total operative times, shorter recovery times, and less frequent nausea, emesis, and epistaxis than GA.