To observe the effects of inguinal nerve block combined with sufentanil anesthesia in Lichtenstein repair of elderly inguinal hernia.

Retrospective analysis of the clinical data of 88 elderly patients with inguinal hernia treated with Lichtenstein repair at Mengcheng County Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from January 2021 to December 2022. They were divided into an observation group (from January 2022 to December 2022) and a control group (from January 2021 to December 2021) based on the time of admission. All patients were treated with Lichtenstein repair, and the control group was given lumbar anesthesia combined with epidural anesthesia during surgery, the observation group was given inguinal nerve block combined with sufentanil anesthesia during surgery. The basic conditions of operation (onset time of anesthesia, maintenance time of anesthesia, degree of postoperative pain) were compared between the two groups. The blood circulation status [blood oxygen saturation (SpO₂), heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP)] were observed before anesthesia induction, before skin incision, at 15 min after skin incision and at the end of surgery. The early cognitive function [Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)] was compared between the two groups at 6 h, 12 h, 1 d and 3 d after surgery, and the adverse reactions in the two groups within 3 d after surgery were analyzed.

The maintenance time of anesthesia was longer in the observation group than that in the control group (P<0.05), the onset time of anesthesia were shorter and degree of postoperative pain were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Before skin incision, at 15 min after skin incision and at the end of surgery, the SpO₂ level in observation group was lower than that in the control group (P<0.05), and there was no significant statistical differences in HR and MAP between the two groups (P>0.05). At 6 and 12 h after surgery, the score of MoCA scale was lower in observation group than that in control group (P<0.05). There was no significant statistical difference in MoCA scale score between the two groups at 1 and 3 d after surgery (P>0.05). The total incidence rate of adverse reactions in observation group within 3 d after surgery was lower than that in control group (P<0.05).

Inguinal nerve block combined with sufentanil anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing Lichtenstein repair has good anesthetic effect, stable blood circulation, and high drug safety, but is not conducive to improving early postoperative cognitive function.