Purpose: The study was planned to describe and compare the resumption of daily activity after bone marrow harvesting (BMH) under general anesthesia with different anesthetic agents, isoflurane, sevoflurane and propofol.
Methods: Sixty-five adult healthy allogenic donors (26 women, 39 men; 37.0 +/- 9.5 years of age; ASA class I or II) were studied. BMH was performed under general anesthesia with isoflurane, sevoflurane, or propofol as the main anesthetic agent. On day 1, donors were asked how soon they could resume five daily activities: talking, walking, drinking, eating, and reading.
Results: Although there was considerable variation in resumption time within and among these five activities, 77% of donors resumed all of these basic daily activities within 12 h after BMH. Donors who received propofol resumed talking significantly faster than those who received sevoflurane or isoflurane, but the choice of main anesthetic agent did not affect the time of resumption of other activities. Lower preoperative hemoglobin concentration and greater decline of hemoglobin concentration on day 1 were significantly associated with slower resumption of walking and reading.
Conclusion: Although the choice of main anesthetic agent and anemia affected postoperative recovery, 77% of donors could resume these five daily activities within 12 h.