The effect of thoracic epidural bupivacaine and an intravenous adrenaline infusion on gastric tube blood flow during esophagectomy.

Background: Gastric tube necrosis is a major cause of anastomotic leak after esophagectomy. A correlation has been shown between reduced flux at the anastomotic end of the gastric tube and anastomotic leaks.

Methods: We prospectively studied the effect of intraoperative thoracic epidural bupivacaine and subsequent adrenaline infusion on hemodynamics and flux in the gastric tube.