Abstract
Twenty-six cases subjected to neck surgery were operated under epidural anesthesia. These consisted of one case of laryngectomy, three cases of thyroidectomy, four cases of resection of median cervical cyst, twelve cases of thyroplasty type I, five cases of arytenoid aduction and one case of resection of lypoma. In the studies, it was shown that epidural anesthesia had benefits for thyroidectomy, thyroplasty type I and arytenoid aduction. The patients were conscious and without pain while undergoing the operations, allowing the surgeon to speak with them to make sure of the patient's voice changes. The anesthesia was also good for laryngectomy and radical neck dissection of its broad numbring area. Usually the patients were most uneasy bewfore and during their operations. Therefore, we used a much larger dose of tranquilizer before and during the operations. By using a smaller dose of anesthetics than is used for local anesthesia, we found that this anesthesia had a broader numbring area resembling general anesthesia. It was concluded that the epidural anesthesia should be used more frequently for neck surgery than types.
