Objective?To systematically evaluate the effects of thoracic epidural anesthesia on outcome after coronary artery bypass surgery. Methods?We searched PubMed, EBSCO, Springer, Ovid, and CNKI databases from 1990 through Oct. 2009 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about thoracic epidural anesthesia combined with general anesthesia versus general anesthesia alone on outcome after coronary artery bypass surgery. The methodological quality of the included RCTs was assessed and the data was extracted according to the Cochrane Reviewer’s Handbook. The homogeneous RCTs were pooled using RavMan 4.2.10 software. Results?Sixteen RCTs involving 1 316 patients met the inclusion criteria. The results of meta-analyses showed that thoracic epidural anesthesia significantly reduced time to tracheal extubation (MD= –332.43, 95%CI –640.19 to –24.68, P=0.03), visual analog scale (VAS) scores at rest on postoperation day 1 (MD= –1.23, 95%CI –2.19 to –0.27, P=0.01), VAS scores with movement on postoperation day 1 (MD= –2.52, 95%CI –4.65 to –0.39, P=0.02) and day 2 (MD= –1.5, 95%CI –2.56 to –0.43, P=0.006), and incidences of myocardial ischemia (RR=0.53, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.97, P=0.04). There were no significant differences between the two groups in postoperative pulmonary function, incidences of myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and mortality. Conclusions?Thoracic epidural anesthesia could reduce postoperative time to tracheal extubation, VAS score, and incidences of myocardial ischemia, but it does not affect postoperative pulmonary function, incidences of myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and mortality. More high-quality RCTs are required.
