Does Epidural Anesthesia Reduce Postoperative Ileus Following Colorectal Surgery?

Overview

The use of epidural analgesia (EA) has been suggested as an integral part of an enhanced recovery program for colorectal surgery. However, the effects of EA on postoperative ileus remain controversial. Some authors suggest that EA has beneficial effects for postoperative outcome and hospital stay, whereas others have reported that the role of EA in the modern perioperative care of patients undergoing open colorectal surgery has been limited. Therefore, the investigators aimed to investigate the effect of EA on postoperative outcome, particularly postoperative ileus and hospital stay in patients with colorectal surgery.

In 2016, results of Cochrane review of 22 trials on the efficacy of EA in patients undergoing abdominal surgery showed that an epidural containing a local anesthetic, with or without the addition of an opioid, accelerated the return of gastrointestinal transit (high quality of evidence) and no difference in the incidence of vomiting or anastomotic leak (low quality of evidence). For open surgery, an epidural containing a local anaesthetic would reduce the length of hospital stay (very low quality of evidence). However, in a recent analysis from American College of Surgeons revealed that the use of EA did not improve postoperative recovery after elective colectomy in their analysis and was associated with increased postoperative ileus and prolonged hospital stay after open colectomy. In this study, the investigators aimed to compare the efficacy of EA to reduce the postoperative ileus and hospital stay, as well in the patients undergoing colorectal surgery. This prospective randomized study planned to include 100 consecutive patients with colorectal disorders.