hi again .. just had my pre op day at my hospital, met most departments and discussed everything with them, including the anaethetist. She told me they recommend having a spinal in addition to a general because the morphine will stay in my system for a while after surgery and aid with pain relief.
is this a common practice? i despise spinals and think it may hinder my immediate movement after surgery, but the only reference i have personally is from having c-sections.
Ultimately its my decision, but I’m interested in what others experiences have been and whether this is the right way to go?
Thanks in advance
Hi yes its your decision i had an epidural with sedation and i never heard or remember anything that was done during the op hope this helps
Hello, now, I can only speak on MY experience. I’m 6 days post op, and during my pre op, spinal was never even an option. They gave me a sedative to calm me down, then gas to knock me out. I had no issues whatsoever, and the surgery went very well
I requested a spinal with sedation after researching the options. I’m not keen on general anaesthesia as it takes longer to leave the system. The anaesthetist was all set to give me a general but when I discussed it with her on the day she agreed to give me the spinal. I was having tea and smoked salmon sandwiches half an hour after the op and recovered very fast. Didn’t feel or have any awareness of anything during the op. It took about three hours to wear off, but I had no nausea, vomiting or drowsiness and was completely pain free. I was allowed out of bed the following morning (I was on the afternoon list). I recommend it. The anaesthetist came to see me in the evening and said I had made by far the best recovery of all the patients that day and she would be recommending spinal more often.
Good luck
Ann
i had both my hip replacements under spinal and it was well worth it, no horrible effects from general. As it wears off in a few hours , you feel more awake and able to start feeling better .
What is sedation exactly?
thank you everyone! i really value your opinions and in this case, its really helped me feel comfortable with this option 
I had general anesthesia for my first hip replacement and for my second I was prepared to go to a different surgeon if he would not agree to the use of a spinal. With the general anesthesia, I could not wake up after the surgery. When they tried to get me out of bed, I was nauseous and dizzy. I also had heart arrhythmia during surgery and a heart doctor was called in. He later concluded that the anesthesia was the cause of the problem. The surgeon did agree to the use of a spinal for the second surgery and it was much better.
Hi Suzie
i had my revieion yesterday with the spinal again, i had my THR back in March, and i think its the best way . very simple injection then loss of feeling, when i came round i could feel my legs and wiggle my toes..
i highly recomend it .
Tina
I definitely recommend a spinal. I had sedation because I didn’t want to hear it all, but I know some people on the forum are braver!
I was having lunch an hour later, and up using a walker in the afternoon.
Sedation is a medicine that makes you sleepy so you don’t know what’s happening during the operation
It’s when they put something in through your cannula so you are unaware of anything that is happening. I had it, it was great. After the op my surgeon was telling me how well it had gone, and it was like nothing had happened. Weird!
Spinal is different to an Epidural - they are able to ‘top up’ the epidural for long operations, or ones where thelength of the operation is uncertain (childbirth), whereas Spinal is a ‘one off shot’ for a defined time (i think less than 3 hours).
I am told that Spinal is safer than general anaesthetic.
I have put a new link in my THR website to an excellent page about anaesthetics by “Peerwell”, it’s in both the ‘Online Resources’ and ‘Anaesthetics’ pages.
The website address is in my personal info here …
Patient Communities - Our community of patients, carers, and health-conscious individuals is here to help.
and at the bottom of the moderator’s “useful resources” page at
THR - Useful Resources - Bones, joints and muscles - Patient Communities
Best wishes
Graham - ¯_(ツ)_/¯
thats interesting reading about spinals.
i was offered an epidural with a whiff of gas which i didn’t like the sound of as i have curvature of the spine and was worried about the needle going in the wrong place. so i opted for a general aenasetic as i didn’t want to risk hearing the sounds of the op.
I’m so glad i did as the others on the ward who had the epidural suffered after effects e.g nausea and vomiting which delayed their progress.
i was last on the surgeons list and was able to get up and walk the next morning. the others had to wait until they felt stronger.
my progress was brilliant.
this was 18 months ago and most of the time I forget I’ve had it done 
Hi,
For my first hip replacement in July, I was given a spinal with a sedative, and I saw and heard nothing. I am going into hospital in a couple of weeks for my second hip replacement op and will be having another spinal, now that I know what to expect I have no reservations at all.
I had general, only because I was in for a revision and there was a possibility the surgery would last 4 to 5 hours. They told me if I had a standard replacement, they’d give me a spinal and nothing else. Of course I’m not a doctor, but I don’t see why they’d recommend both. The reason for a spinal is that recovery is much easier, particularly with your respiratory system.
As for pain management, my case may be a bit unusual, but I was on Tylenol alone within 36 hours of the operation. Three days post-op, I was off all pain meds. I never took any opiods after the op at all. Also, opiods can cause constipation, which you don’t want.
BTW, maybe this is just a thing with Kaiser in my area, but they gave me a 4 week supply of Gabapentin and Meloxicam, both for calming nerves, and they told me they found these two drugs helped a lot of their patients avoid opiods all together.
Good luck!
I had my right hip replaced 13 weeks ago and have recovered well. I had a spinal with sedation. I had no problems, woke up from the procedure feeling good. My surgery was longer than usual because they thought I had metastatic prostate cancer in my hip, but the pathology showed no cancer there. There was an orthopedic oncologist present as well as my own orthopedic surgeon, just in case there was cancer there to treat it differently. They performed an posterior rather than anterior method ( which I was first told I was having until the morning of surgery) because of the possible cancer and because of the size of my hip replacement as I am tall. The anaesthetist was a bit concerned about how I would do as I have had radiation and chemotherapy and am on hormone therapy for prostate cancer. I also have pulmonary fibrosis and he didnt want me to have a general as there can be problems with that. At 70 I am quite fit, having done 4 rehabilitation programs over the last 2 years. The surgeon said that had helped my good recovery, inspite of my other issues. The key to recovery is exercise.
I have been told by a nursing colleague that her Grandfather has had both his hips replaced. He had a spinal for the second one and his recovery from that operation was quicker than the first.
My operation is on the 6th and is to be a day case, but I’ve been advised to pack a bag “just in case”.
Good luck to you whatever you decide!