BACKGROUND: Gastric tube necrosis is a major cause of anastomotic leak after esophagectomy. A correlation has been shown between reduced flux at the anastomotic end of the gastric tube and anastomotic leaks. METHODS: We prospectively studied the effect of intraoperative thoracic epidural bupivacaine and subsequent adrenaline infusion on hemodynamics and flux in the gastric tube. RESULTS: Administering the epidural bolus significantly decreased flux at the anastomotic end of the gastric tube (P < 0.01). Gastric flux was returned to baseline by an adrenaline infusion. CONCLUSIONS: The administration of a thoracic epidural bolus may decrease flux at the anastomotic end of the gastric tube.
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Al-Rawi et al. (2008) studied this question.
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