EP150 Regional anaesthesia is associated with improved day of surgery discharge and reduced opioid consumption following surgical wrist fracture repair

<h3>Background and Aims</h3> Wrist fracture repairs are a commonly performed trauma operation, with patients often going home on the day of surgery. Anaesthetic options include Regional Anaesthesia (RA), General Anaesthesia (GA), or a combination. Given the benefits to both patients and hospital bed pressures we aimed to analyse if anaesthesia choice affected the rate of same day discharge. We also aimed to analyse if anaesthesia choice affected perioperative opioid consumption. <h3>Methods</h3> We conducted a retrospective audit of 6 months of patients who underwent distal radius or scaphoid repair. We excluded those with multiple injuries. Data was collected on anaesthesia type, perioperative and recovery opioid use, day of surgery discharge, and representation to hospital. RA was defined as any nerve block performed by the anaesthetist. Ethical approval was sought and not deemed necessary by local committee. <h3>Results</h3> 89 patients underwent wrist fracture repair in the study period: 37.1% GA only, 37.1% RA only, and 25.9% GA plus RA. 71.9% of patients were discharged on the same day of surgery. Patients who received a regional block (with or without GA) were more likely to be discharged on the same day (82.1% vs 57.6%, p=0.012). Patients who received a regional block received less intravenous morphine equivalents in the peri- and postoperative period; mean difference -18.2 mg (95% CI -14.2 to -21.8, p=0.0001). There were no cases of representation to hospital following discharge due to pain. <h3>Conclusions</h3> RA, with or without GA, was associated with improved rates of same day discharge and reduced perioperative opioid requirements in patients undergoing wrist fracture repair.