Amman, Nov 3 (Petra) – Jordan University Hospital (JUH) has added spinal anesthesia to its complex spinal surgeries, typically used for simpler and quicker procedures.

A patient in his sixties, suffering from heart and respiratory weakness and morbid obesity, recently underwent this type of surgery as general anesthesia posed a significant risk to his life, according to a statement issued by the teaching hospital on Monday.

Dr. Tariq Kanaan, Head of the Spinal Unit at the hospital, said the patient underwent a lumbar canal decompression procedure, which was completely successful, and the patient was able to walk immediately after the spinal anesthesia wore off. He was discharged from the hospital the day after the surgery in good health, he added.

Dr. Ahmed Shaheen, head of the anesthesia team overseeing the procedure, said spinal anesthesia is not new in the field of anesthesia, but it is now increasingly used for spinal surgery.

"It requires close communication between the anesthesia, intensive care, and surgical teams, as well as appropriate patient selection and the suitable procedure for this type of anesthesia. Furthermore, close post-operative monitoring is crucial due to the potential overlap between the effects of spinal anesthesia and some of the surgical procedure's own effects," he said.

He said the patient remained awake throughout the surgery although some patients ask for sedation in addition to spinal anesthesia.

Spinal anesthesia is one of the procedures used to reduce the patient's hospital stay within the enhanced post-operative recovery protocol, the fast awakening program after surgery.

//Petra//SS