Efficacy of postoperative epidural analgesia: a meta-analysis.

CONTEXT: Whether epidural analgesia is a better method than parenteral opioids for postoperative pain control remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the efficacy of postoperative epidural analgesia vs parenteral opioids, the primary alternative technique. DATA SOURCES: Studies were identified primarily by searching the National Library of Medicine's PubMed database (1966 to April 25, 2002) and other sources for studies related to postoperative epidural analgesia. STUDY SELECTION: Inclusion criteria were a comparison of epidural therapy vs parenteral opioids for postoperative analgesia, measurement of pain using a visual analog scale (VAS) or numeric rating scale, randomization of patients…