Study objective: To assess whether the use of intraoperative opioids is associated with poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) after lung cancer surgery.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: Academic hospital.
Subjects: Patients with laryngeal primary or recurrent laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma who had surgery.
Interventions: Intravenous opioids (remifentanil, fentanyl, sufentanil, and hydromorphone).
Measurements: Univariate and multicovariate Cox proportional hazards models were applied to assess the effects of covariates of interest on OS and RFS.
Main results: A total of 195 patients were included. All received opioids intraoperatively. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.03; P = .005), negative margin status (HR, 0.163; P = .001], postoperative chemotherapy (HR, 7.38; P < .001), and concurrent chemotherapy and radiation (HR, 3.11; P < .001) treatment and fentanyl equivalent use (HR, 1.001; P = .02) were all predictor factors for 3- and 5-year RFS. The same variables were predictor factors for OS (age: HR, 1.03 [P = .003]; negative margin status: HR, 0.14 [P = .001]; postoperative chemotherapy: HR, 4 [P < .0001]; and fentanyl equivalent use: HR, 1.001 [P = .02]).
Conclusions: Our study demonstrates a very weak association between the use of intraoperative opioids and cancer recurrence after laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma surgery.
Keywords: Cancer recurrence; Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma; Opioids; Surgery; Survival.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.