The laryngeal mask airway and prolonged balanced regional anaesthesia.

The purpose of this paper is to report an eight-hour operation in which anaesthesia was provided by a combination of continuous epidural analgesia and light general anaesthesia administered via a laryngeal mask. During the perioperative period, the respiratory system was monitored with arterial blood gas and thoraco-abdominal movement analyses. There was no deterioration in respiratory function nor evidence of respiratory fatigue. We suggest that this is a suitable technique in fasting healthy patients undergoing prolonged surgery to the extremities.