Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37120426›Full record

ArticleLangenbeck's archives of surgery2023

Effect of thoracic epidural anesthesia on postoperative outcome in major liver surgery: a retrospective cohort study.

Christoph R Behem, Juliane C Wegner, Hans O Pinnschmidt, Gillis Greiwe, Michael F Graessler, Sandra Funcke, Rainer Nitzschke, Constantin J C Trepte, Sebastian A Haas

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Langenbeck's archives of surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Christoph R BehemDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. c.behem@uke.de.
Juliane C WegnerDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Hans O PinnschmidtDepartment of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Gillis GreiweDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Michael F GraesslerDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Sandra FunckeDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Rainer NitzschkeDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Constantin J C TrepteDepartment of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
Sebastian A HaasDepartment of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany.
Universität Hamburg · DEUniversity of Rostock · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePostoperative complications after major liver surgery are common. Thoracic epidural anesthesia may provide beneficial effects on postoperative outcome. We strove to compare postoperative outcomes in major liver surgery patients with and without thoracic epidural anesthesia.

methodsThis was a retrospective cohort study in a single university medical center. Patients undergoing elective major liver surgery between April 2012 and December 2016 were eligible for inclusion. We divided patients into two groups according to whether or not they had thoracic epidural anesthesia for major liver surgery. The primary outcome was postoperative hospital length of stay, i.e., from day of surgery until hospital discharge. Secondary outcomes included 30-day postoperative mortality and major postoperative complications. Additionally, we investigated the effect of thoracic epidural anesthesia on perioperative analgesia doses and the safety of thoracic epidural anesthesia.

resultsOf 328 patients included in this study, 177 (54.3%) received thoracic epidural anesthesia. There were no clinically important differences in postoperative hospital length of stay (11.0 [7.00-17.0] vs. 9.00 [7.00-14.0] days, p = 0.316, primary outcome), death (0.0 vs. 2.7%, p = 0.995), or the incidence of postoperative renal failure (0.6 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.99), sepsis (0.0 vs. 1.3%, p = 0.21), or pulmonary embolism (0.6 vs. 1.4%, p = 0.59) between patients with or without thoracic epidural anesthesia. Perioperative analgesia doses - including the intraoperative sufentanil dose (0.228 [0.170-0.332] vs. 0.405 [0.315-0.565] μg·kg

conclusionThis retrospective analysis suggests that thoracic epidural anesthesia does not reduce postoperative hospital length of stay in patients undergoing major liver surgery - but it may reduce perioperative analgesia doses. Thoracic epidural anesthesia was safe in this cohort of patients undergoing major liver surgery. These findings need to be confirmed in robust clinical trials.

Indexed as

Analgesia, EpiduralAnesthesia, EpiduralHumansLength of StayLiverPostoperative ComplicationsPostoperative PainRetrospective StudiesEpidural anesthesiaHepatectomyLiver neoplasmsPain managementPerioperative care

Identifiers

PMID37120426
PMCPMC10148777
OpenAlexW4367367454

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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.