The choice of general anesthetic regimen—either total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) or volatile anesthesia—does not appear to affect cancer outcomes after colorectal surgery.
The authors of this systematic review and meta-analysis noted that these findings contrast with previous studies, which showed a protective effect of TIVA in other types of cancer surgery.
“There is both clinical and preclinical evidence which suggests that even though exposure to anesthesia is brief, it can potentially have significant clinical impact on outcome after cancer surgery,” said Zhaosheng Jin, MD, a resident at Stony Brook Medicine, in New York. “This project looks at the clinical evidence for whether there’s any significant outcome change between different choices of anesthesia for colorectal cancer surgery, which is one of the most common cancer types in the U.S.”