ReviewEuropean journal of anaesthesiology and intensive care2026
The role of esketamine in enhancing postoperative recovery and pain management in laparoscopic surgery: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
Review in European journal of anaesthesiology and intensive care, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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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.
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundEffective analgesia in laparoscopic surgery remains challenging due to visceral pain and postoperative nausea. NMDA-receptor antagonists such as esketamine may enhance peri-operative analgesia, mitigate opioid related side effects, and it also shows potent antiemetic properties.
objectivesThis meta-analysis evaluated whether intra-operative esketamine improves postoperative pain and other outcomes in adults undergoing laparoscopic procedures. STUDY
designThe study followed PRISMA guidelines and was registered with PROSPERO (Registration No: CRD420251039241). The search for studies was carried out in the PubMed, Embase, Scopus and the Cochrane Library from inception to 1 March 2025. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Eleven RCTs (
resultsEsketamine significantly reduced pain scores at 0 to 6 h (MD = -0.32, 95% CI: -0.40 to -0.25,
conclusionWith a low to very low level of certainty, esketamine appears to improve early postoperative pain control and selected recovery parameters (enhancement of analgesia with both reduced rescue analgesia needs and reduced PONV) in laparoscopic surgery without increasing adverse events. It represents a valuable adjunct in multimodal analgesia, though standardised dosing. However, considerable heterogeneity in esketamine dosing, mode of administration and background analgesic regimens across included trials limits definitive conclusions and highlights the need for standardised, high-quality randomised trials.
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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.