The Effect of Circadian Rhytm in Patients Undergoing Spinal Anesthesia.

Objective: The circadian rhythm is the most important of the main rhythms that affect our daily lives and has a significant role in the efficiency of a lot of drugs used in anesthesia. The aim of this study is to prove whether circadian rythm has an effect on spinal anesthesia and, if any, its effect on postoperative analgesic request by retrospectively studying the patients operated under spinal anesthesia.

Methods: We conducted the study on patients operated on inguinal hernia and anorectal surgery under spinal anesthesia in general surgery room. The patients were divided into two groups according to the time when they were taken into surgery: between 06.00-12.00 (Group 1) and 12.00- 18.00 (Group 2). Time to first analgesic request, time to start walking, time to first urination, intraoperative and postoperative side effects, intraoperative hemodynamic data, and patient satisfaction were detected and recorded.

Results: The time to first analgesic request in Group 1 was longer than in Group 2, and this difference was statistically significant. The mean heart rate of the groups was found significantly lower in Group 2 than in Group 1 during measurements at the 25. and 30. minute when compared with their changes over time. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in terms of side effects and the most common side effect was detected to be nausea - vomiting.

Conclusions: We found out that the time to first analgesic request after spinal anesthesia was significantly longer in Group 1 than in Group 2.