Epidural pain relief may help gut recovery in liver donors
NCT ID NCT04079673
First seen Jun 24, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study looked at 42 healthy people donating part of their liver. It compared two types of pain relief after surgery: epidural anesthesia (numbing the spine) versus intravenous morphine. The goal was to see how each method affects gut bacteria and how quickly the gut recovers. The findings could help improve recovery for living liver donors.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only — not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Patient controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with marcaine and fentanyl
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could help improve recovery and reduce complications for healthy liver donors after surgery.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, completed study with only 42 participants. It focuses on understanding the gut microbiome, not on proving a new treatment works. Results may not apply to other surgeries or populations.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
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As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Department of Anesthesiology, National Taiwan University Hospital
Taipei, 100, Taiwan