Akca 2004.
| Methods | Multi‐centre RCT | |
| Participants |
Setting: two Viennese hospitals Inclusion criteria: ASA I‐III patients, 18 to 80 years of age, scheduled for elective colon resection scheduled to last more than 2 hours Exclusion criteria: patients with bowel obstruction or having minor colon surgery (e.g. polypectomy, isolated colostomy) Participant numbers: 344 randomly assigned; 344 analysed |
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| Interventions | Intervention: anaesthetic management was standardized. Sodium thiopental (3 to 5 mg/kg) and vecuronium (0.1 mg/kg) were used for induction; anaesthesia subsequently was maintained with isoflurane (0.5 to 1.0% in 65% nitrous oxide), vecuronium, and remifentanil (0.2 mg/kg/min). Control: anaesthetic management was standardized. Sodium thiopental (3 to 5 mg/kg) and vecuronium (0.1 mg/kg) were used for induction; anaesthesia subsequently was maintained with isoflurane (0.5 to 1.0% in air), vecuronium, and remifentanil (0.2 mg/kg/min). | |
| Outcomes | Other outcomes: Bowel distension | |
| Notes | — | |
| Risk of bias | ||
| Bias | Authors' judgement | Support for judgement |
| Random sequence generation (selection bias) | Low risk | Quote: "Patients were assigned to one of two groups using a reproducible set of computer‐generated random numbers." |
| Allocation concealment (selection bias) | Low risk | Quote: "The assignments were kept in sealed, sequentially numbered opaque envelopes that were opened after induction of anaesthesia." |
| Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes | Low risk | Quote: "Great care was exercised to prevent the surgeons from observing the administered gas mixture." |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Inhospital case fatality rate/length of stay | Unclear risk | — |
| Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) Complications | Low risk | Quote: "The rater was blinded to anaesthesia management." |
| Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes | Low risk | No missing data. |
| Selective reporting (reporting bias) | Low risk | All outcomes described in methods section reported. |
| Other bias | Low risk | No other potential sources of bias were detected. |