Methods	Regional anaesthesia added to general anaesthesia versus general anaesthesia
Participants	44 patients undergoing elective open elective bowel resection
Interventions	General anaesthesia in both groups (no details) Thoracic epidural anaesthesia (n = 23): between T10 and T12; test dose with 3 mL 1.5% lidocaine with epinephrine 5 mcg/mL, followed by 100 mcg of fentanyl and 10 mL of 0.1% bupivacaine with fentanyl 5 mcg/mL at peritoneal closure and an infusion at 8 to 10 mL after the surgery IV morphine or meperidine PCA (n = 21): A background infusion could be added if required
Outcomes	Mortality: One participant died from an anastomotic leak after a prolonged hospital stay, exact day not reported, taken as zero to 30‐day mortality Pneumonia: "We had no patients that had any respiratory tract infections"; taken as 0 pneumonia
Notes	Antibiotic prophylaxis