Perioperative epidural analgesia reduces cancer recurrence after gastro-oesophageal surgery

Abstract

Background Recent interest has focused on the role of perioperative epidural analgesia in improving cancer outcomes. The heterogeneity of studies (tumour type, stage and outcome endpoints) has produced inconsistent results. Clinical practice also highlights the variability in epidural effectiveness. We considered the novel hypothesis that effective epidural analgesia improves cancer outcomes following gastro-oesophageal cancer surgery in patients with grouped pathological staging. Methods Following institutional approval, a database analysis identified 140 patients, with 2-year minimum follow-up after gastro-oesophageal cancer surgery. All patients were operated on by a single surgeon (2005-..