Background Regional anesthesia and analgesia reduce the stress response to surgery and decrease the need for volatile anesthesia and opioids, thereby preserving cancer-specific immune defenses. This study therefore tested the primary hypothesis that combining epidural anesthesia–analgesia with general anesthesia improves recurrence-free survival after lung cancer surgery. Methods Adults scheduled for video-assisted thoracoscopic lung cancer resections were randomized 1:1 to general anesthesia and intravenous opioid analgesia or combined epidural–general anesthesia and epidural analgesia. The primary outcome was recurrence-free survival (time from surgery to the earliest date of recurrence/metastasis or all-cause death). Secondary outcomes included overall survival (time from surgery to all-cause death) and cancer-specific survival (time from surgery to cancer-specific death). Long-term outcome assessors were blinded to treatment. Results Between May 2015 and November 2017, 400 patients were enrolled and randomized to general anesthesia alone (n = 200) or combined epidural–general anesthesia (n = 200). All were included in the analysis. The median follow-up duration was 32 months (interquartile range, 24 to 48). Recurrence-free survival was similar in each group, with 54 events (27%) with general anesthesia alone versus 48 events (24%) with combined epidural–general anesthesia (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.60 to 1.35; P = 0.608). Overall survival was also similar with 25 events (13%) versus 31 (16%; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.64 to 1.96; P = 0.697). There was also no significant difference in cancer-specific survival with 24 events (12%) versus 29 (15%; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.61 to 1.91; P = 0.802). Patients assigned to combined epidural–general had more intraoperative hypotension: 94 patients (47%) versus 121 (61%; relative risk, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.55; P = 0.007). Conclusions Epidural anesthesia–analgesia for major lung cancer surgery did not improve recurrence-free, overall, or cancer-specific survival compared with general anesthesia alone, although the CI included both substantial benefit and harm. Editor’s Perspective What We Already Know about This Topic What This Article Tells Us That Is New

Background: Few studies have investigated the effect of dexmedetomidine on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients underwent gynecological laparoscopic surgery. We investigated if adding dexmedetomidine to a morphine-based patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) could decrease the incidence of PONV in this high-risk patient population. Methods: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study, 122 patients underwent gynecological laparoscopic surgery were assigned into two groups. Patients in the dexmedetomidine group (Group Dex) received a loading dose of dexmedetomidine 0.4 μg/kg before the end of surgery, followed by morphine 0.5 mg/ml plus dexmedetomidine 1 μg/ml for postoperative i.v. PCA. Patients in the control group (Group Ctrl) received normal saline before the end of surgery, followed by morphine 0.5 mg/ml alone for postoperative i.v. PCA. PCA pump was programmed as followed: bolus dose 2 ml, lockout interval 8 min and background infusion at a rate of 1 ml/h. The primary outcome was the incidence of nausea and vomiting within the first postoperative 24 h. Results: Although there were no significant differences in regard to the total incidence of PONV (41.0% vs 52.5%, P = 0.204), PONV score, time to first onset of PONV, or the need for rescue antiemetics within the first postoperative 24 h between the two groups, the incidence of nausea and total PONV during the first 2 h period was significantly lower in the Group Dex than in the Group Ctrl (9.8% vs 24.6%, P = 0.031 and 0.031, respectively). More patients in Group Dex were over sedated or had bradycardia during the PACU compared with Group Ctrl (P = 0.040 and 0.036, respectively). Conclusion: Our protocol in which dexmedetomidine was administered postoperativelyafter a loading doseto intravenous PCA morphine in patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery, had only early antiemetic effects, while no clinically meaningful antiemetic effect could be evidenced within the first 24 h after surgery.

Background: Few studies have investigated the effect of dexmedetomidine on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients underwent gynecological laparoscopic surgery. We investigated if adding dexmedetomidine to a morphine-based patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) could decrease the incidence of PONV in this high-risk patient population. Methods: In this prospective, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study, 122 patients underwent gynecological laparoscopic surgery were assigned into two groups. Patients in the dexmedetomidine group (Group Dex) received a loading dose of dexmedetomidine 0.4μg/kg before the end of surgery, followed by morphine 0.5mg/ml plus dexmedetomidine 1μg/ml for postoperative i.v. PCA. Patients in the control group (Group Ctrl) received normal saline before the end of surgery, followed by morphine 0.5mg/ml alone for postoperative i.v. PCA. PCA pump was programmed as followed: bolus dose 2ml, lockout interval 8 minutes and background infusion at a rate of 1ml/h. The primary outcome was the incidence of nausea and vomiting within the first postoperative 24 hours. Results: Although there were no significant differences in regard to the total incidence of PONV (41.0% vs 52.5%, P=0.204), PONV We thank Ms.

Purpose: Few studies have investigated the effect of dexmedetomidine on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients following gynecological laparoscopic surgery. We investigated if adding dexmedetomidine to a morphine-based patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) could reduce the incidence of PONV in this patient population. Methods: In this double-blind randomized-controlled trial,122 patients undergoing gynaecological laparoscopic surgery were randomly allocated to receive either a mixture of dexmedetomidine 1μg ml-1 and morphine 0.5mg ml-1 (Group Dex) or morphine 0.5mg ml-1 alone (Group Ctrl) for postoperative i.v. PCA. PCA pump was programmed as followed: bolus dose 2ml, lockout interval 8 minutes and background infusion at a rate of 1ml h-1. The primary outcome was the incidence of nausea and vomiting within 24 hours after operation. Results: The incidence of nausea and total PONV during the first 2h period was significantly lower in the Group Dex than in the Group Ctrl (10% vs 25%, P=0.031 and 0.031, respectively). There were no significant differences in regard to the total incidence of PONV (41% vs 52%, P=0.204), PONV score, time to first onset of PONV, or the need for rescue antiemetics in the first 24 hr following surgery between the two groups. Conclusions: For female patients undergoing gynecological laparoscopic surgery, adding dexmedetomidine to morphine-based PCA reduced the incidence of early postoperative nausea but not total PONV within 24h after surgery.