"We feel very strongly, at the Hospital for Special Surgery, that regional anesthesia is the safest way to have this procedure" Doctor Thomas P. Sculco, Surgeon-in-Chief at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, explains how he believes regional anesthetic is safer for hip replacement than general anesthetic.

Dr. Sculco



Well in this case we use epidural anesthesia. Very common anesthetic, very safe. Very light, patients will awaken immediately after the operation.



There are different anesthetics that one can use to do this operation. We feel very strongly, at the Hospital for Special Surgery, that regional anesthesia is the safest way to have this procedure. Regional anesthesia means not the use of a heavy general anesthetic. So we sedate our patients, but we use anesthetics to block the zones that we're working in. So n this case we use epidural anesthesia. Very common anesthetic, very common in childbirth. Very safe. Very light, patients will awaken immediately after the operation without the side effects of a heavy general anesthetic.