Effect of thoracic epidural anesthesia on postoperative outcome in major liver surgery: a retrospective cohort study

Christoph R Behem; Juliane C Wegner; Hans O Pinnschmidt; Gillis Greiwe; Michael F Graessler; Sandra Funcke; Rainer Nitzschke; Constantin J C Trepte; Sebastian A Haas

doi:10.1007/s00423-023-02900-w

Effect of thoracic epidural anesthesia on postoperative outcome in major liver surgery: a retrospective cohort study

Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2023 Apr 29;408(1):168. doi: 10.1007/s00423-023-02900-w.

Authors

Christoph R Behem¹, Juliane C Wegner², Hans O Pinnschmidt³, Gillis Greiwe², Michael F Graessler², Sandra Funcke², Rainer Nitzschke², Constantin J C Trepte², Sebastian A Haas⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany. c.behem@uke.de.
² Department of Anesthesiology, Center of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
³ Department of Medical Biometry and Epidemiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany.

Abstract

Purpose: Postoperative complications after major liver surgery are common. Thoracic epidural anesthesia may provide beneficial effects on postoperative outcome. We strove to compare postoperative outcomes in major liver surgery patients with and without thoracic epidural anesthesia.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study in a single university medical center. Patients undergoing elective major liver surgery between April 2012 and December 2016 were eligible for inclusion. We divided patients into two groups according to whether or not they had thoracic epidural anesthesia for major liver surgery. The primary outcome was postoperative hospital length of stay, i.e., from day of surgery until hospital discharge. Secondary outcomes included 30-day postoperative mortality and major postoperative complications. Additionally, we investigated the effect of thoracic epidural anesthesia on perioperative analgesia doses and the safety of thoracic epidural anesthesia.

Results: Of 328 patients included in this study, 177 (54.3%) received thoracic epidural anesthesia. There were no clinically important differences in postoperative hospital length of stay (11.0 [7.00-17.0] vs. 9.00 [7.00-14.0] days, p = 0.316, primary outcome), death (0.0 vs. 2.7%, p = 0.995), or the incidence of postoperative renal failure (0.6 vs. 0.0%, p = 0.99), sepsis (0.0 vs. 1.3%, p = 0.21), or pulmonary embolism (0.6 vs. 1.4%, p = 0.59) between patients with or without thoracic epidural anesthesia. Perioperative analgesia doses - including the intraoperative sufentanil dose (0.228 [0.170-0.332] vs. 0.405 [0.315-0.565] μg·kg^-1·h^-1, p < 0.0001) - were lower in patients with thoracic epidural anesthesia. No major thoracic epidural anesthesia-associated infections or bleedings occurred.

Conclusion: This retrospective analysis suggests that thoracic epidural anesthesia does not reduce postoperative hospital length of stay in patients undergoing major liver surgery - but it may reduce perioperative analgesia doses. Thoracic epidural anesthesia was safe in this cohort of patients undergoing major liver surgery. These findings need to be confirmed in robust clinical trials.

Keywords: Epidural anesthesia; Hepatectomy; Liver neoplasms; Pain management; Perioperative care.

MeSH terms

Analgesia, Epidural*
Anesthesia, Epidural*
Humans
Length of Stay
Liver
Pain, Postoperative / drug therapy
Pain, Postoperative / prevention & control
Postoperative Complications / epidemiology
Postoperative Complications / prevention & control
Retrospective Studies