Analysis of the postoperative hemostatic profile of colorectal cancer patients subjected to liver metastasis resection surgery

BACKGROUND: Liver resection surgery has advanced greatly in recent years, and the adoption of fasttrack programs has yielded good results. Combination anesthesia (general anesthesia associated to epidural analgesia) is an anesthetic-analgesic strategy commonly used for the perioperative management of patients undergoing surgery of this kind, though there is controversy regarding the coagulation alterations it may cause and which can favor the development of spinal hematomas. AIM: To study the postoperative course of liver resection surgery, an analysis was made of the outcomes of liver resection surgery due to colorectal cancer metastases in our centre in terms of morbiditymortality and hospital stay according to the anesthetic technique used (general vs combination anesthesia). METHODS: A prospective study was made of 61 colorectal cancer patients undergoing surgery due to liver metastases under general and combination anesthesia between January 2014 and October 2015. The patient characteristics, intraoperative variables, postoperative complications, evolution of hemostatic parameters, and stay in intensive care and in hospital were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 61 patients were included in two homogeneous groups: general anesthesia (n = 30) and combination anesthesia (general anesthesia associated to epidural analgesia) (n = 31). All patients had normal coagulation values before surgery. The international normalized ratio (INR) in both the general and combination anesthesia groups reached maximum values at 2448 h (mean 1.37 and 1.45 vs 1.39 and 1.41, respectively), followed by a gradual decrease. There was less intraoperative bleeding in the combination anesthesia group (769 mL) than in the general anesthesia group (1200 mL) (P < 0.05). Of the 61 patients, 38.8% in the general anesthesia group experienced some respiratory complication vs 6.6% in the combination anesthesia group (P < 0.001). The time to gastrointestinal tolerance was significantly correlated to the type of anesthesia, though not so the stay in critical care or the time to hospital discharge. CONCLUSION: Epidural analgesia in liver resection surgery was seen to be safe, with good results in terms of pain control and respiratory complications, and with no associated increase in complications secondary to altered hemostasis.