Pain Med. 2021 May 22:pnab176. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnab176. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness and safety of epidural analgesia in the presurgical period on hip fracture patients undergoing surgical repair.
DESIGN: Systematic review.
METHODS: The study protocol was registered with the PROSPERO systematic reviews register: CRD42019140396. Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials comparing preoperative epidural analgesia to other forms of pain management in hip fracture patients. The primary outcomes included perioperative cardiac events and mortality. Pain, non-cardiac complications, and adverse effects were also examined as secondary outcomes. Heterogeneity of the included studies was assessed using the I2 statistic and a random-effects meta-analysis was conducted once sufficient homogeneity was demonstrated.
RESULTS: Four studies met the inclusion criteria, which included a total of 221 patients. Preoperative epidural analgesia resulted in fewer cardiac events, which was a reported outcome in two included studies (RR 0.30; 95% CI 0.14-0.63; I2 = 0%). Preoperative epidural analgesia was also associated with decreased perioperative mortality in a meta-analysis of two studies (RR 0.13; 95% CI 0.02-0.98; I2 = 0%). Pain was not pooled due to variability in assessment methods, but preoperative epidural analgesia was associated with reduced pain in all four studies.
CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative epidural analgesia for hip fracture may reduce perioperative cardiac events and mortality, but the number of included studies in this systematic review was low. More research should be done to determine the benefit of early epidural analgesia for hip fractured patients.
PMID:34022058 | DOI:10.1093/pm/pnab176
