Endocrine‐metabolic response to abdominal aortic surgery: A randomized trial of general anesthesia versus general plus epidural anesthesia

The influence of epidural anesthesia on the endocrine‐metabolic response following abdominal aortic reconstruction was studied in a prospective randomized trial. Cortisol and catecholamine responses and nitrogen balance were measured in two groups of five patients receiving general anesthesia only (group 1) or general anesthesia combined with epidural bupivacaine (group 2). The study lasted from preoperatively until the first postoperative day. At 2100 hours on the day of surgery serum cortisol concentrations were higher in group 1 than in group 2 (1.41 versus 0.82 μmol/L; p