Rimaitis 2003.

Methods	RCT Approved by the local ethics committee of our institution; informed written consent was obtained from each patient Setting: Lithuania Funding: unspecified
Participants	100 patients (ASA 1 to 3) scheduled to undergo elective colorectal cancer surgery
Interventions	Treatment group: TEA (T10‐L1 with the catheter advanced 4 cm passed the needle tip) with bupivacaine 0.1% and fentanyl 5 mcg/mL for 72 hours (n = 50) Control group: IM pethidine analgesia (n = 50) All participants received general anaesthesia
Outcomes	VAS at rest at 24, 48 and 72 hours VAS on movement (coughing) at 24, 48 and 72 hours Vomiting (first day) Leak Hospital LOS
Notes
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	"randomly", 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Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Low risk	The epidural catheter was retracted 1.5 cm for 1 participant in the EA group, who had a sufficient block level only unilaterally. Another participant in the EA group had accidental withdrawal of an epidural catheter on the morning of the third postoperative day, and systemic analgesia was started
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Low risk	All results provided
Other bias	Low risk	Groups well balanced