British journal of anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Thoracic epidural analgesia inhibits the neuro-hormonal but not the acute inflammatory stress response after radical retropubic prostatectomy.
Epidural anaesthesia and analgesia has been shown to suppress the neuro-hormonal stress response, but its role in the inflammatory response is unclear. The primary aim was to assess whether the choice of analgesic technique influences these processes in patients undergoing radical retropubic prostatectomy. ⋯ In this small prospective randomized study, thoracic epidural analgesia reduced the early postoperative stress response but not the acute inflammatory response after radical retrobupic prostatectomy, suggesting that other pathways are involved during the acute phase reaction.