Monitored anesthesia care linked to fewer complications

Editor's Note

When compared to general anesthesia, the use of monitored anesthesia care in invasive procedures resulted in a decreased risk for advanced postoperative complications, according to the results of a new retrospective investigation published December 17 in Anesthesiology News. Investigators leading the single-center study found that this benefit for monitored anesthesia care was partly mediated by a lower risk for vasopressor requirements.

To better understand the effects of monitored anesthesia care on advanced postoperative healthcare utilization, the investigators analyzed records of 62,906 adult patients undergoing surgical procedures between 2010 and 2024 for cases in which both anesthesia strategies were viable options.

Among these studied cases, 29,399 patients (46.7%) received modified anesthesia care, and 33,507 patients received general anesthesia (53.3%). The study findings showed that 6,950 (11%) of patients required advanced postoperative healthcare utilization. Adjusted analyses showed that monitored anesthesia care was associated with a 6.2% lower risk for advanced postoperative healthcare utilization.