• Lihong Zhang, Weifeng Liu, Haiping You, Zhiyuan Chen, Liming Xu, and Hefan He.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Second Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, China.
• Pharm Biol. 2020 Dec 1; 58 (1): 741-744.

ContextThoracic trauma results in multiple rib fractures (MRF), and surgical stabilisation of rib fractures (SSRF) can relieve fracture pain. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is reported to exhibit beneficial effects in bone-related metabolic and differentiation processes.ObjectiveTo study the clinical effect of EGCG on regional analgesia for pain relief in MRF patients after SSRF.Materials And MethodsNinety-seven MRF patients (61 males, 36 females) who were on epidural catheter analgesia after SSRF were recruited. They were randomly divided into: oral EGCG 100 mg (oral grade) twice daily for 10 days and placebo groups. Pain scores, incentive spirometry (IS) volumes, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation (SpO2) were assessed day 10 after SSRF.ResultsComparing results from the placebo and EGCG group, in the 10-day intervention course, oral EGCG reduced pain score (8 at base line vs. 4 at end of intervention in EGCG group, p < 0.05; 4 in EGCG group vs. 6 in placebo group at end of intervention, p < 0.05), improved IS volume (713 at base line vs. 1072 at end of intervention in EGCG group, p < 0.05; 1072 in EGCG group vs. 953 in placebo group at end of intervention, p < 0.05) and respiratory rate (24 at base line vs. 15 at end of intervention in EGCG group, p < 0.05; 15 in EGCG group vs. 19 in placebo group at end of intervention, p < 0.05). However, no further enhancing effect on SpO2 was observed in the EGCG group (0.98 in EGCG group vs. 0.98 in placebo group at end of intervention, p > 0.05).Discussion And ConclusionsAlthough the study is limited by a relatively small sample size and lack of serum factor analysis, the key results and the study design, for the first time, nevertheless pave the way for trials with larger number of patients to understand the effect of EGCG in MRF patients that are undergoing SSRF.

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