PANCREATICODUODENECTOMY UNDER EPIDURAL-ANESTHESIA WITHOUT ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION FOR THE ELDERLY

To evaluate the efficacy of a single application of epidural anesthesi a without endotracheal intubation for pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), th e data on 30 patients who underwent PD were analyzed for their operati ve morbidity and mortality, These patients were classified into two gr oups according to the type of anesthesia performed: 15 received epidur al anesthesia alone (Group I) and 15, general anesthesia under endotra cheal intubation (Group IX), The clinical characteristics of the patie nts in both groups were comparable at the time of operation, except th at Group I included a significantly larger proportion of elderly patie nts than Group II (p<0.05), Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPC s) occurred in 5 (33.3%) of the Group II patients, especially in elder ly patients who underwent lengthy operations, whereas no such complica tions occurred in the Group I patients (p<0.05), even in elderly patie nts with a long operating time, The curability of the malignant tumors and the incidences of other complications were not significantly diff erent between the two groups, These findings suggest that a single app lication of epidural anesthesia is effective in preventing PPCs when p erforming a time-consuming PD, especially in elderly patients.