Effects Of Epidural Blockade Combined With General Anesthesia On Plasma Levels Of Cortisol, Blood Glucose And Postoperative Recovery In Patients Undergoing Cardiac Valve Surgery

Background: Escalating costs and change in the profile of patients presenting for cardiac surgery requires modification of perioperative management strategies. A growing body of evidence from randomized trials has identified many anesthetic interventions that can improve outcome after cardiac surgery. Fast-track cardiac anesthesia (FTCA) incorporates early tracheal extubation, decreased length of intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay, and (ideally) should avoid or reduce complications to safely achieve cost-savings. Regional anesthesia has played an integral part of many fast-track anesthesia protocol.Objective To study the effects of epidural blockade combined with general anesthesia on stress reponse and postoperative recovery in patients undergoing cardiac valve surgery.Methods Twenty patients were randomly assigned to two groups with 10 cases each.The patients in group GEA received epidural blockade combined with general anesthesia and those in group GA underwent traditional general anesthesia acted as controls.Plasma levels of cortisol and blood glucose (Glu) were measured before induction of anaesthesia, at 4 hours after the end of...