Intravenous lidocaine for gastrointestinal recovery after colorectal surgery: the ALLEGRO placebo-controlled randomised trial and cost-effectiveness analysis - PubMed
6 hours ago
- #lidocaine
- #gastrointestinal recovery
- #colorectal surgery
- The ALLEGRO trial investigated the effectiveness of intravenous lidocaine in improving gastrointestinal recovery after minimally invasive colorectal surgery.
- 590 patients were randomized to receive either intravenous lidocaine or placebo, with no significant difference found in GI-3 recovery at 72 hours post-surgery.
- No benefits were observed in secondary outcomes including pain, quality of life, recovery measures, or cost-effectiveness.
- The study concluded that perioperative intravenous lidocaine does not enhance gut function recovery or other patient-reported outcomes.
- Despite modern surgical techniques, delayed bowel recovery remains a common issue, affecting 40% of patients 3 days post-surgery.
- The trial was pragmatic, with short infusion durations, and did not find lidocaine to be harmful or cost-effective under NICE criteria.