Table 6.

Subgroup RCTs: influence of anaesthesia type on perioperative outcomes in total knee arthroplasty. CI, confidence interval; GA, general anaesthesia; MI, myocardial infarction; NA, neuraxial anaesthesia; OR, odds ratio; PE, pulmonary embolism. All infections, including pneumonia and sepsis; pulmonary complications, excluding pneumonia; n (NA/GA): total number of patients with NA/GA.

Complication	NA vs GA					NA+GA vs GA
	Studies	OR (95% CI)	n (NA)	n (GA)	P-value	Studies	OR (95% CI)	n (NA)	n (GA)	P-value
Mortality	Various authors81, 82	0.93 (0.13–6.64)	267	248	0.941
Cardiac including MI	Williams-Russo and colleagues81	1.28 (0.28–5.84)	134	128	0.748
MI	Williams-Russo and colleagues81	0.95 (0.19–4.82)	134	128	0.955
Pulmonary	Chu and colleagues86	0.48 (0.04–5.63)	30	30	0.561
Pneumonia	Chu and colleagues86	0.19 (0.01–4.06)	30	30	0.286
Urinary retention	Various authors32, 86	0.86 (0.47–1.59)	88	90	0.628
DVT	Various authors56, 82, 89, 90, 91, 95	0.82 (0.56–1.18)	256	327	0.283
PE	Various authors42, 82, 90	1.17 (0.45–3.03)	163	149	0.748
DVT+PE	Various authors42, 56, 82, 89, 90, 95	0.78 (0.56–1.10)	436	498	0.157
CNS	Williams-Russo and colleagues81	1.31 (0.59–2.89)	134	128	0.503	Kudoh and colleagues96	0.74 (0.16–3.42)	75	75	0.7
Stroke	Williams-Russo and colleagues82	2.73 (0.11–67.61)	133	120	0.54
All infections	Chu and colleagues86	0.19 (0.01–4.06)	30	30	0.286
Wound (superficial)	Chu and colleagues86	0.48 (0.04–5.63)	30	30	0.561
Falls	Harsten and colleagues32	0.00 (0.00–0.00)	58	60	<0.0001
Blood loss (ml)	Zhou and colleagues95	13.54 (–25.75 to 52.83)	63	67	0.499	Kudoh and colleagues96	13.10 (–18.99 to 45.19)	75	75	0.424
Length of stay (days)	Various authors81, 82, 98	–0.14 (–0.56 to 0.28)	308	295	0.512