Effects of epidural combined with general anesthesia versus general anesthesia on quality of recovery of elderly patients undergoing laparoscopic radical resection of colorectal cancer: A prospective randomized trial

The aim of the present study was to assess the quality of recovery from anesthesia on patients subjected to laparoscopic radical resection of colorectal cancer under epidural block combined with general anesthesia or general anesthesia by means of Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) questionnaire. Prospective randomized trial. The setting is at an operating room, a post-anesthesia care unit, and a hospital ward. Seventy patients, aging from 65 to 79 years with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status II or III, were scheduled to undergo laparoscopic radical resection of colorectal cancer. Epidural block combined with general anesthesia or general anesthesia. The QoR-15 was administered by an investigator blind to group allocation before surgery (T0), at 24 and 72h after surgery (T1 and T2), and on postoperative day 7 (T3). The quality of recovery, as assessed by the score on the QoR-15, was compared between the groups. Besides, the consumption of anesthetics, respiratory recovery time, response time, extubation time, flatus time, the incidence of nausea or vomiting, the consumption of antiemetic and analgesic agents, and the duration of the hospital stay were also recorded. The QoR-15 scores at T1 and T2 were significantly higher in the E + G group compared with the G group (P