Report on Academic Integrity Issues: "Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Anesthesia in Esophageal Cancer Surgery Patients" by Jiang Lin et al.

Academic fraud report · Geng Detector

Summary

This report evaluates a 2015 paper published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in Practice (DOI: 10.7619/jcmp.201524049) concerning the anesthetic effect of dexmedetomidine in esophageal cancer surgery. The overall verdict is 'Confirmed' (实锤), driven by three categories of severe problems. First, Table 2 reports a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 3 ± 9 mmHg at the T5 timepoint (immediately after tracheal extubation) for the dexmedetomidine group, which is biologically impossible for an extubated, living patient and strongly indicates a typographical error (likely 93 ± 9) that escaped all editorial checks. Second, the Discussion section contains an abrupt, disjointed insertion of text from a completely unrelated paper on traditional Chinese medicine treatment of pediatric viral pneumonia, suggesting a major journal layout error. Third, statistical methods are entirely absent; the paper uses asterisks to denote P<0.05 without specifying any test. Confidence in findings 1 and 2 is high as they involve clearly visible textual errors; finding 3 is robust but less severe. Limitations include the inability to access raw data.

Verdict

🔴 Confirmed (实锤) — Multiple serious editorial and methodological defects are evident, including a biologically impossible vital sign value and apparent cross-paper text contamination.

Key findings

Biologically implausible data: Table 2 reports a MAP of 3 ± 9 mmHg at the T5 timepoint (immediately after tracheal extubation) for the dexmedetomidine (D) group. A living patient cannot be extubated with a MAP of 3 mmHg; this almost certainly represents a dropped tens digit (most likely 93 ± 9 mmHg), but the error was not caught during review or editing.
Text splicing / layout error: The Discussion section abruptly shifts, midway through, into content entirely unrelated to esophageal cancer surgery — specifically a Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment of pediatric viral pneumonia (麻杏石甘合升降散), mentioning 58 infant cases, fever, and herbs such as 麻黄, 杏仁, 石膏. This indicates a serious journal layout mishap that pasted two unrelated manuscripts together.
Missing statistical methodology: Tables 1–3 use asterisks (*) to indicate P<0.05, but the paper never specifies which statistical tests were used (e.g., independent-samples t-test, chi-square, repeated-measures ANOVA). Repeated-measures data in Table 2 are not disclosed as such, and no statistical software or method is reported.

Evidence highlights

Table 2, D group, T5: MAP recorded as 3 ± 9* mmHg. Normal adult MAP is 70–105 mmHg; the patient could not be alive, let alone extubated, at 3 mmHg. Evidence: 3 ± 9* mmHg (as documented in the source PDF).
Discussion text shift: Sudden appearance of phrases such as "小儿病毒性肺炎", "麻黄、杏仁、石膏", "升清降浊", and "本组58例发热的患婴应用中药麻杏石甘合升降散加味" — directly copied from a different clinical paper on TCM treatment of pediatric pneumonia.
Tables 1–3: Asterisk notation * referencing P<0.05 is used throughout with no corresponding methods section describing test selection, alpha level handling, or software.

Notes

DOI: 10.7619/jcmp.201524049
Journal: 实用临床医药杂志 (Journal of Clinical Medicine in Practice), 2015.
Authors: 姜琳, 孙灿林, 徐玉民, 吉晓丽, 朱亚敏.
The MAP value of 3 mmHg is treated as a typographical dropping of the tens digit (likely 93 mmHg), but the absence of any correction or erratum in the public record since 2015 is itself problematic.
The text splicing is consistent with a journal typesetting/paste-up error rather than author fabrication, but the responsibility chain (author → editor → typesetter) was clearly broken.
Statistical reporting deficits, while not unique to this paper, breach standard biomedical reporting expectations.
Raw patient data were not accessible; final institutional determination of misconduct would require a formal investigation.
Recommended actions: contact the journal for erratum/retraction consideration; flag on PubPeer; request raw hemodynamic data from the corresponding author.