Table 1.
Patient and surgery characteristics
| TEA (n=99) | PCA (n=104) | |
|---|---|---|
| Age (yr), mean (range) | 67.9 (41–80) | 67.2 (39–81) |
| Women† | 31 (31) | 44 (42) |
| BMI (kg m−2)∗ | 27.0 (4.0) | 26.3 (4.6) |
| <25, normal† | 31 (31) | 45 (43) |
| 25 to <30, pre-obesity† | 49 (49) | 43 (41) |
| ≥30, obesity† | 19 (19) | 16 (15) |
| ASA physical status† | (n=103) | |
| 1 | 31 (31) | 28 (27) |
| 2 | 52 (53) | 66 (64) |
| 3 | 16 (16) | 9 (9) |
| Study centre† | ||
| Linköping | 46 (46) | 51 (49) |
| Örebro | 46 (46) | 48 (46) |
| Karlstad | 7 (7) | 5 (5) |
| Type of cancer† | ||
| Rectal | 49 (49) | 54 (52) |
| Colon | 50 (51) | 50 (48) |
| Type of surgery† | ||
| Open | 60 (61) | 60 (58) |
| Minimally invasive | 34 (34) | 34 (33) |
| Converted | 5 (5) | 10 (10) |
| T stage† | (n=103) | |
| No cancer | 7 (7) | 8 (8) |
| ypT0 | 2 (2) | 2 (2) |
| T1 | 6 (6) | 6 (6) |
| T2 | 18 (18) | 14 (14) |
| T3 | 58 (59) | 60 (58) |
| T4 | 8 (8) | 13 (13) |
| N stage† | ||
| No cancer | 7 (7) | 8 (8) |
| N0 | 59 (60) | 49 (47) |
| N1 | 19 (19) | 36 (35) |
| N2 | 14 (14) | 11 (11) |
| Preoperative radiotherapy (only rectal cancer)† | 33 (33) | 34 (34) |
| Adjuvant treatment† | (n=98) 37 (38) |
(n=102) 46 (45) |
| Duration of surgery (min), median (IQR) | 220 (150–281) | 197 (152–276) |
| Comorbidities† | ||
| Hypertension | 45 (46) | 44 (42) |
| IHD | 6 (6) | 8 (8) |
| Cardiac failure | 1 (1) | 3 (3) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 19 (19) | 13 (13) |
| CKD | 5 (5) | 3 (3) |
| COPD | 3 (3) | 6 (6) |
Values denote ∗mean (standard deviation) or †n (%) of patients unless otherwise stated. Continuous variables were analysed by t-test if normally distributed, or by Mann–Whitney U-test if not normally distributed. Categorical variables were analysed by χ2 or Fisher's exact test when appropriate.
CKD, chronic kidney disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IHD, ischaemic heart disease; IQR, inter-quartile range; PCA, patient-controlled opioid analgesia; TEA, thoracic epidural analgesia.