The purpose of this investigation was to study the postoperative courses following three anesthetic methods, namely, (1) regional anesthesia, (2) general anesthesia given by mask, and (3) general anesthesia given by endotracheal tube.
Methods
This study was done at the University of Illinois Hospital, reviewing the records of patients from May, 1955, to October, 1962. All elective ventral, femoral, and inguinal herniorrhaphies and orchiopexies (in adults) which had been performed during this period were included in the study. The ages of the patients ranged between 15 and 77 years. All procedures were done by the resident staff. A total of 437 herniorrhaphies, 28 of which were bilateral, were reviewed. The study included 24 orchiopexies, most of which were done in conjunction with a herniorrhaphy.In these groups of patients regional anesthesia and general mask anesthesia were used much more frequently than endotracheal anesthesia. Therefore, in order to make the three