Study on the effects of intraoperative administration of dexmedetomidine on the prognosis and survival outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND

The perioperative period of tumor surgery commonly utilizes dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant analgesic for anesthesia. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of research investigating its influence on the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC). This article primarily aims to examine the correlation between the intraoperative administration of dexmedetomidine and recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of colorectal cancer patients, as well as its prognostic implications on survival.

METHODS

According to the exclusion criteria, 76 patients undergoing laparoscopic radical resection of CRC under general anesthesia were enrolled at Huizhou Central People's Hospital in 2014. Kaplan-Meier method was used for univariate survival analysis of clinical prognostic factors, RFS, and OS in patients with CRC Cox regression analysis was used for multivariate survival analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 76 patients with CRC were enrolled in this study. Among them, 36 patients were treated with dexmedetomidine (group D), and 40 patients were not treated with dexmedetomidine (group C) during the operation. Survival analysis showed that the RFS and OS of patients in group D were significantly higher than those in group C ( = 0.046 and  = 0.021, respectively). Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that the intraoperative administration of dexmedetomidine independently predicted a protective effect on OS  = 0.025).

CONCLUSIONS

The intraoperative application of dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant analgesic has a protective effect on the prognosis and survival of patients with CRC and can improve the overall survival rate. Additionally, it influences the recurrence status of patients to a certain extent. These results suggest that dexmedetomidine significantly benefits on the long-term prognosis of patients with CRC.