• Antonio Siniscalchi, Lorenzo Gamberini, Cristiana Laici, Tommaso Bardi, and Stefano Faenza.
• Antonio Siniscalchi, Lorenzo Gamberini, Cristiana Laici, Tommaso Bardi, Stefano Faenza, Division of Anesthesiology, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
• World J Crit Care Med. 2015 Feb 4; 4 (1): 89-104.

AimTo evaluate the currently available evidence on thoracic epidural anesthesia effects on splanchnic macro and microcirculation, in physiologic and pathologic conditions.MethodsA PubMed search was conducted using the MeSH database. Anesthesia, Epidural was always the first MeSH heading and was combined by boolean operator AND with the following headings: Circulation, Splanchnic; Intestines; Pancreas and Pancreatitis; Liver Function Tests. EMBASE, Cochrane library, ClinicalTrials.gov and clinicaltrialsregister.eu were also searched using the same terms.ResultsTwenty-seven relevant studies and four ongoing trials were found. The data regarding the effects of epidural anesthesia on splanchnic perfusion are conflicting. The studies focusing on regional macro-hemodynamics in healthy animals and humans undergoing elective surgery, demonstrated no influence or worsening of regional perfusion in patients receiving thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA). On the other hand most of the studies focusing on micro-hemodynamics, especially in pathologic low flow conditions, suggested that TEA could foster microcirculation.ConclusionThe available studies in this field are heterogeneous and the results conflicting, thus it is difficult to draw decisive conclusions. However there is increasing evidence deriving from animal studies, that thoracic epidural blockade could have an important role in modifying tissue microperfusion and protecting microcirculatory weak units from ischemic damage, regardless of the effects on macro-hemodynamics.

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