Perioperative prostaglandin E1 treatment for the prevention of postoperative complications after esophagectomy: a randomized clinical trial.

Purpose: We conducted a prospective randomized clinical study to examine whether perioperative prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) could help in the prevention of postoperative complications after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer.

Methods: Forty patients with esophageal cancer eligible for radical esophagectomy were randomly assigned to an experimental group ( n = 20), given perioperative PGE1, or to a control group ( n = 20), given standard postoperative treatment. The main clinical endpoints examined were the incidence of postoperative complications, hospitalization, duration of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), portal vein blood flow, and serum bilirubin levels.