Neudecker 1999.

Methods	RCT Approved by the ethics committee and written informed consent obtained from all patients Setting: Germany Funding: unspecified
Participants	20 patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic bowel resection
Interventions	Treatment group: TEA (T9‐T12) with ropivacaine 0.2% during surgery for 24 hours (n = 10) Control group: no epidural (n = 10) General anaesthesia and IV PCA morphine for 4 days for all participants
Outcomes	Time to first faeces Vomiting Hospital LOS
Notes	Lower limb motor blockade in 2/10 patients Study authors contacted for additional information on 9 July 2014, but did not reply
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	"Randomized controlled trial", no details
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Not mentioned
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not mentioned
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Not mentioned
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	Groups well balanced