To analyze the anesthetic effect and the correlation with gastrointestinal function of stellate ganglion block (SGB) combined with dexmedetomidine in gastrointestinal tumor surgery.

A total of 135 patients who underwent gastrointestinal surgery at Yongzhou Central Hospital (Yongzhou Hospital Affiliated to University of South China) from January 2019 to January 2023 were selected as the research subjects of this study. According to the different intraoperative anesthesia methods of the patients, they were divided into the control group (n=64) and the study group (n=71). The control group was given dexmedetomidine hydrochloride injection, while the study group was treated with SGB combined with dexmedetomidine. On this basis, all patients were induced with conventional anesthesia during the operation. The hemodynamic indicators [heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP)] and oxidative stress indicators [malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), cortisol] of the two groups of patients before surgery, after anesthesia and at the end of surgery were compared. The pain scores (VAS) at 12 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours after the operation were compared, as well as the anesthesia recovery status (extubation time, eye-opening time and awakening time) and the recovery of gastrointestinal function (exhaust time, defecation time and liquid food consumption time) of patients under general anesthesia. The scores of the postoperative Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (I-FEED) of the patients and the levels of inflammatory factors 24 hours after the operation were recorded. Spearman analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the stress indicators of the patients and the postoperative gastrointestinal function.

The indicators of HR, SBP, DBP, MAP, the levels of MDA, SOD, cortisol, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1β, and the LF/HF value of the patients in the study group during and after the operation were all lower than those in the control group, and the RMSSD value was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05), and the VAS scores at each time point in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The extubation time, eye-opening time, awake time, exhaust time, defecation time and liquid food intake time were shortened (P<0.05). The postoperative I-FEED score of all patients was positively correlated with the stress index level at the end of operation (P<0.05).

For patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery, postanesthesia stress disorder will affect the recovery of gastrointestinal function after surgery, and SGB combined with dexmedetomidine anesthesia can effectively relieve oxidative stress and pain after surgery, which is conducive to promoting the patients’ gastrointestinal function recovery.