Comparison of Recurrence of Malignancy Following Two Opioid-free General Anesthesia Regimens versus Standard Care Using Opioids: A Retrospective Analysis.
Annals of African medicine June 11, 2025 Sunil Rajan, Gayathri Sreekumar, Roniya Ann Roy et al.
Avoiding opioids and volatile anesthetics during surgery may reduce immunosuppression. In patients with advanced head-and-neck malignancies undergoing excision with reconstruction, those who received an opioid-free anesthesia regimen using intravenous lidocaine had a significantly lower rate of cancer recurrence within one year after surgery compared to those who received a regimen using dexmedetomidine with ketamine or standard morphine-based anesthesia. Hospital stay was also shorter in the lidocaine group. Durations of surgery and intensive care unit stay were similar across groups, and mortality at one year was comparable.