Korean J Anesthesiol.  2002 Aug;43(2):203-208. 10.4097/kjae.2002.43.2.203.

Influence of Thoracic Epidural Analgesia on Postoperative Respiratory Complications in Esophageal Cancer Patients

• Yang MK
• Choi SJ
• Gwak MS
• Kim GS
• Lee SM
• Kim CS

• KMID: 2236765
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2002.43.2.203

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Respiratory complications have been the main cause of death after a resection of esophageal cancer. This retrospective study was conducted to investigate the effect of thoracic epidural analgesia on respiratory complications after a resection of esophageal cancer.
METHODS
This study enrolled two groups of patients undergoing an esophageal resection during a 7-year period. The first group (control group) was comprised of 105 patients in whom thoracic epidural analgesia was not used. The second group (epidural group) was comprised of 121 patients in whom thoracic epidural analgesia was done routinely. The latter group received an initial bolus of 0.1% bupivacaine 10 ml with 2 mg of morphine at the end of surgery and an infusion of 2 ml/hr of the solution comprised of 0.1% bupivacaine with 0.2 mg/ml morphine for 3 days. The incidence of respiratory complications and the duration of ventilator care and ICU stay were investigated by reviewing of charts.
RESULTS
There were no significant differences in the incidence of respiratory complications and the duration of ventilator care and ICU stay in both groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study suggest that the routine use of thoracic epidural analgesia did not reduce the incidence of respiratory complications after resection of esophageal cancer.

Keyword

Esophageal cancer; respiratory complications; thoracic epidural analgesia

MeSH Terms

Analgesia, Epidural*
Bupivacaine
Cause of Death
Esophageal Neoplasms*
Humans
Incidence
Morphine
Retrospective Studies
Ventilators, Mechanical
Bupivacaine
Morphine