SynthesisLangenbeck's archives of surgery2021
Transversus abdominis plane block versus thoracic epidural analgesia in colorectal surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Langenbeck's archives of surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Transversus abdominis plane block versus port site anesthetic in adult laparoscopic appendectomy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Surgical endoscopy · 2026Pooled it
- Comparative effectiveness of regional analgesia techniques after gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomized trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Transverse abdominis plane block compared with patient-controlled epidural analgesia following abdominal surgery: a meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.Scientific reports · 2022Pooled it
- Multimodal analgesia with continuous nerve blocks versus intravenous patient-controlled analgesia for pancreatectomy: a retrospective cohort study.Perioperative medicine (London, England) · 2026Article
- Patient preferences for analgesia in lung surgery: an observational cohort study.BMC anesthesiology · 2025Observational
- Multidisciplinary Postoperative Ileus Management: A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Bilateral Modified Thoracoabdominal Nerve Block Through a Perichondrial Approach in Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Surgery: A Randomized Single-Blind Controlled Trial.Turkish journal of anaesthesiology and reanimation · 2025Article
- Beyond the Operating Room: A Narrative Review of Enhanced Recovery Strategies in Colorectal Surgery.Cureus · 2024Review
- Pain management after abdominal surgery: requiem for epidural analgesia?The British journal of surgery · 2024Article
- Determinants of late recovery following elective colorectal surgery.Techniques in coloproctology · 2024Observational
- Impact of spinal or epidural anaesthesia on perioperative outcomes in adult noncardiac surgery: a narrative review of recent evidence.British journal of anaesthesia · 2024Review
- Postoperative Multimodal Analgesia Strategy for Enhanced Recovery After Surgery in Elderly Colorectal Cancer Patients.Pain and therapy · 2024Review
- Pain in Colorectal Surgery: How Does It Occur and What Tools Do We Have for Treatment?Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Article
- Optimized perioperative management (fast-track, ERAS) to enhance postoperative recovery in elective colorectal surgery.GMS hygiene and infection control · 2022Review
- Regional techniques for pain management following laparoscopic elective colonic resection: A systematic review.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2021Review
- Pain management after laparoscopic colorectal surgery: inference to central neuraxial analgaesia and nerve blocks.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2021Article
- How, Why, and When to administer transversus abdominis plane block in laparoscopic surgery?Updates in surgery · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe efficacy of transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block compared with thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) in abdominal surgery has been controversial. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess outcomes of TAP block and TEA in a procedure-specific manner in colorectal surgery.
methodsA systematic literature search of the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases was conducted through July 10, 2020, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing TAP block with TEA in colorectal surgery. Primary outcomes were pain scores at rest and movement at 24 h postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included postoperative pain scores at 0-2 and 48 h, opioid consumption, postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), functional recovery, hospital stay, and adverse events.
resultsSix RCTs with 568 patients were included. Methodological quality of these RCTs ranged from moderate to high. TAP block provided comparable pain control, lower 24 h and total opioid consumption, shorter time to ambulation and urinary catheter time, and lower incidence of sensory disturbance and postoperative hypotension compared with TEA. Meanwhile, the 48-h opioid consumption, PONV incidence, and hospital stay were similar between groups. When laparoscopic surgery was the only surgical approach employed, TAP block provided additional benefits of shorter time to first flatus and lower incidence of PONV compared with TEA.
conclusionsPerhaps more germane to minimally invasive procedures, TAP block is equivalent to TEA in terms of postoperative pain control and provides better functional recovery with lower incidence of adverse events in patients undergoing colorectal surgery.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.