Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38410611›Full record

ArticleJournal of thoracic disease2024

Analgesic efficacy of surgeon placed paravertebral catheters compared with thoracic epidural analgesia after Ivor Lewis esophagectomy: a retrospective non-inferiority study.

Haotian Wang, Daniel French, David B MacDonald

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of thoracic disease, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 38% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Epidurals in esophagectomy: end of an era?Journal of thoracic disease · 2026
    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

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Haotian WangDepartment of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax Infirmary (Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre), Halifax, NS, Canada.
Daniel FrenchNova Scotia Health Authority, Halifax, NS, Canada.
David B MacDonaldDepartment of Anesthesia, Pain Management and Perioperative Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax Infirmary (Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre), Halifax, NS, Canada.
Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre · CANova Scotia Health Authority · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The Ivor Lewis esophagectomy is an operation that involves a laparotomy and a right thoracotomy, both of which are associated with severe postoperative pain and subsequent impairment of respiratory function. Currently, the accepted "gold standard" for postoperative analgesia for laparotomies and thoracotomies is the thoracic epidural. A systematic review has shown paravertebral blocks to be equivalent to epidural analgesia for post-thoracotomy pain control and have decreased incidence of nausea and vomiting, hypotension and respiratory depression. To our knowledge, the use of the paravertebral catheter (PVC) in open Ivor Lewis esophagectomy has not been formally studied. The primary outcome is the area under the curve (AUC) pain scores in the first 48 hours after surgery. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review of the open Ivor Lewis esophagectomy patients at our local institution, with local research ethics board (REB) approval. Results: A total of 92 patients were included in this study: 43 patients had a PVC and 49 had a thoracic epidural for postoperative pan control. Overall, the PVC group was non-inferior and statistically equivalent to the epidural group. Time to ambulation in the PVC group was non-inferior compared to epidurals. The PVC group was superior when comparing total opioid consumption. Conclusions: Our retrospective study continues to challenge the role of epidurals as the gold standard of pain control post thoracotomy and laparotomy. Further prospective studies with a larger population are needed to better compare the two modalities.

Indexed as

Esophagectomypain managementparavertebralthoracotomy

Identifiers

PMID38410611
PMCPMC10894387
OpenAlexW4391352871

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.