BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Preoperative glucocorticoid administration has been proposed for reducing postoperative morbidity. This is not widely used before esophageal resection because of incomplete knowledge regarding its effectiveness. The aim here was to assess the effects of preoperative glucocorticoid administration in adults undergoing esophageal resection for @entity418 . METHODS: Studies were identified by searching the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CancerLit, SCIELO and Cochrane Library, and by manual searching from relevant articles. The last search for clinical trials for this systematic review was performed in December 2005. This review included randomized studies of @entity1 with potentially resectable @entity189 of the esophagus that compared preoperative glucocorticoid administration with placebo. Data were extracted by the reviewer, and the trial quality was assessed using Jadad scoring. Odds ratio with 95% confidence limits and bayesian relative risk were used to assess the significance of the difference between the treatment arms. RESULTS: Four randomized trials involving 169 @entity1 were found. There were no differences in postoperative mortality, @entity834 , hepatic and @entity177 between the glucocorticoid and placebo groups. There were fewer @entity260 (95% CI = 0.09-0.46), @entity295 (95% CI = 0.10-0.81), and @entity260 (95% CI = 0.06-0.23) with preoperative glucocorticoid administration. CONCLUSIONS: Prophylactic administration of glucocorticoids is associated with @entity260 .

[Use of preoperative glucocorticoid to risk reduction of complications after esophagectomy by XXXX : meta-analysis].

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity295 :: ('MESH:D018805', 'Disease') :: ['sepsis'] @entity834 :: ('MESH:D057868', 'Disease') :: ['anastomotic leakage'] @entity189 :: ('MESH:D002277', 'Disease') :: ['carcinomas'] @entity260 :: ('MESH:D011183', 'Disease') :: ['postoperative respiratory complications', 'decreased postoperative complications', 'total postoperative complications'] @entity177 :: ('MESH:D051437', 'Disease') :: ['renal failure'] @entity418 :: ('MESH:D004938', 'Disease') :: ['esophageal carcinoma']
@entity189 :: (MESH:D002277,Disease) :: ['esophagus carcinoma']
