Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26420761›Full record

Trial reportObesity surgery2016

The Effect of Intraoperative N-Acetylcysteine on Hepatocellular Injury During Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery. A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Ajay P Belgaumkar, Kirstin A Carswell, Robin D Hughes, Alberto Quaglia, Anil Dhawan, Ragai R Mitry, Ameet G Patel

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Obesity surgery, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 33% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Subclinical Hepatic Injury and Dysfunction Following Surgery: Evidence From a Young and Aged Laparotomy Murine Model.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Ajay P BelgaumkarDepartment of Minimally Invasive, Bariatric and Laparoscopic HPB Surgery, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS, UK. ajay.belgaumkar@kcl.ac.uk.
Kirstin A CarswellDepartment of Minimally Invasive, Bariatric and Laparoscopic HPB Surgery, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS, UK.
Robin D HughesInstitute of Liver Studies, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
Alberto QuagliaInstitute of Liver Studies, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
Anil DhawanInstitute of Liver Studies, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
Ragai R MitryInstitute of Liver Studies, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, UK.
Ameet G PatelDepartment of Minimally Invasive, Bariatric and Laparoscopic HPB Surgery, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 9RS, UK.
King's College Hospital · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe combination of pneumoperitoneum and intraoperative retraction of the left lobe of the liver leads to hepatocellular injury during laparoscopic gastric surgery. Fatty livers are more susceptible to ischaemic insults. This trial investigated whether the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) reduced liver injury during laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

methodsPatients undergoing LSG were randomised (single blinded) to receive intraoperative NAC infusion or standard anaesthetic treatment. Blood samples were taken before and after surgery (days 0 to 4). Primary endpoints included serum aminotransferases. Secondary measures were C-reactive protein, weight cell count (WCC), cytokines (interleukin 6 and 10) and cytokeratin-18 as markers of apoptosis. Intraoperative liver biopsy samples were assessed using a locally developed injury score.

resultsTwenty patients (14 females, mean age 44.5 (SEM ± 2.9) years, mean BMI 60.8 (SEM ± 2.4) kg/m(2)) were recruited (NAC n = 10, control n = 10). The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis. Baseline liver function was similar. The peak rise in liver enzymes was on day 1, but levels were not significantly different between the groups. Rates of complications and length of stay were not significantly different. Secondary outcome measures, including white cell count (WCC), cytokines and cytokeratin (CK)-18 fragments, were not different between groups. Liver injury scores did not differ significantly.

conclusionsNAC did not reduce intraoperative liver injury in this small number of patients. The heterogenous nature of the study population, with differences in co-morbidities, body mass index and intraabdominal anatomy, leads to a varied post-operative inflammatory response. Significant hepatocyte injury occurs through both necrosis and apoptosis.

Indexed as

AcetylcysteineAdolescentAdultAgedBariatric SurgeryBody Mass IndexComorbidityCytokinesFemaleFree Radical ScavengersGastrectomyHumansIntraoperative CareIntraoperative ComplicationsKeratin-18LaparoscopyAcetylcysteineCytokinesFree Radical ScavengersKeratin-18Bariatric surgeryN-acetylcysteineSleeve gastrectomy

Identifiers

PMID26420761
OpenAlexW2460285239

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.