Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Sep 1998
Meta AnalysisEpidural fentanyl, adrenaline and clonidine as adjuvants to local anaesthetics for surgical analgesia: meta-analyses of analgesia and side-effects.
The risk/benefit ratio of adding fentanyl, adrenaline and clonidine to epidural local anaesthetics for improving intraoperative analgesia is unclear. This meta-analysis was performed to clarify this issue. ⋯ The analysis of current literature shows that the addition of fentanyl to local anaesthetics for intraoperative epidural analgesia is safe and advantageous. The reduction in the incidence of pain during surgery is quantitatively high and therefore clinically significant. Side-effects are mild. Randomized, controlled trials have to be performed in order to clarify the role of adrenaline and clonidine as epidural adjuvants for surgical analgesia.