Impact of epidural analgesia on survival in patients undergoing complete cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND

Potential benefits of regional analgesia in reduction of cancer recurrence have been reported for breast and prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of regional analgesia on recurrence-free survival and overall survival in patients with advanced-stage ovarian cancer (ASOC) following complete cytoreduction.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective study of 104 patients who had undergone complete cytoreduction for ASOC between 01/2007 and 12/2009: 51 with patient controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) and 53 without PCEA.

RESULTS

No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of overall survival, while there was a trend in favour of PCEA for disease free survival.

CONCLUSION

In our study, regional analgesia had no clear impact on cancer recurrence. More studies on this subject are warranted in order to determine the possible impact of regional analgesia on ASOC.