Sen 2017.

Methods	Parallel RCT Ethics committee: approved by the ethical committee of the hospital Informed consents: obtained Site: Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi, Kerala, India Setting: university hospital Dates of data collection: unspecified Funding: departmental resources Registration: unspecified
Participants	60 participants; mean age: not reported; sex distribution: not reported Inclusion criteria Male ASA III participants Aged 45 to 70 years Posted for CABG surgery for triple‐vessel disease APTT ≤ 45 seconds prothrombin time (PT) (international normalized ratio (INR) ≤ 1.5), platelets ≥ 80,000/dL Good left ventricular systolic function ejection fraction (EF) > 50% Had discontinued aspirin and clopidogrel 7 days preoperatively Exclusion criteria Patient refusal Infection at puncture site APTT ≥ 45 seconds PT (INR) = 1.5 Platelets ≤ 80,000/dL Clopidogrel within last 7 days of the procedure Coexisting liver disease
Interventions	Intervention Epidural analgesia (N = 30) Comparator Fentanyl infusion (N = 30) Premedication: lorazepam, ranitidine, allopurinol, vitamin C, vitamin A, and vitamin E Induction and maintenance: fentanyl, midazolam, and pancuronium Surgery: CABG with CPB using a membrane oxygenator
Outcomes	Relevant to this review Risk of pulmonary complications (respiratory depression) Risk of neurological complications (serious neurological complications from epidural analgesia) Pain scores Haemodynamic variables Others Rescue analgesia Sedation scores Co‐operation to physiotherapy
Notes	Correspondence: email sent 16 March 2018; no reply Conflict of interest: no conflicts of interest DOI: 10.4103/0259‐1162.186613
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Low risk	Randomly allocated to 2 equal groups by computer‐generated random sequence of numbers
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not reported
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Study was a prospective, randomized, non‐blinded comparative study
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	High risk	Study was a prospective, randomized, non‐blinded comparative study
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	No loss to follow‐up
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All results reported
Other bias	Low risk	No failed epidural reported Groups well balanced