Annals of surgical oncology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Intraoperative epidural analgesia prevents the early proinflammatory response to surgical trauma. Results from a prospective randomized clinical trial of intraoperative epidural versus general analgesia.
The intraoperative epidural analgesia (EA) has the potential to reduce stress response to surgical trauma which induces a transient immunoactivation that has a negative impact on the outcome. This study investigates the effect of intraoperative EA versus intravenous analgesia (IA) on the immune function. ⋯ Our results indicate that in cancer patients undergoing major elective colon surgery, the EA attenuates the surgery-induced proinflammatory response and the typical postoperative transient immunosuppression and seems associated with a reduced rate of postoperative complications compared with IA.