Increased resource utilization and overall morbidity are associated with general versus regional anesthesia for carotid endarterectomy in data collected by the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative.

Objective: Advocates for performing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) under regional anesthesia (RA) cite reduction in hemodynamic instability and the ability for neurologic monitoring, but many still prefer general anesthesia (GA) as benefits of RA have not been clearly demonstrated, reliable RA may not be available in all centers, and a certain amount of movement by the patient during the procedure may not be uniformly tolerated. We evaluated the association of anesthesia type and perioperative morbidity and mortality as well as resource utilization in patients undergoing CEA using the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative (MSQC) database.

Methods: Between 2012 and 2014, 4558 patients underwent CEA among the MSQC participating hospitals.