The impact of intraoperative opioid use on survival after oral cancer surgery
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Updated: Feb 19, 2026

Intraoperative Assessment of Resection Margins in Oral Cavity Cancer: This is the Way
Published on: May 10, 2021
Miguel A Patino1, Rafael E Ramirez1, Carlos A Perez1
1Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Anesthesiology and Surgical Oncology Research Group, Houston, TX, USA.
Objectives:
To investigate the impact of opioid use on cancer recurrence after oral cancer surgery. We hypothesized that the amount of opioids administered during oral cancer surgery is an independent predictor of recurrence free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS).
Methods:
After Institutional Review Board approval, we collected demographic, tumor related, intraoperative and survival data of patients who had oral cancer surgery. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the impact of important covariates on RFS and OS.
Results:
268 patients were included. After adjusting for significant covariates, the amount of opioids administered during surgery was not an independent predictor of RFS (HR: 1.27 [CI 95%, 0.838-1.924], p=0.26). However, we observed an association between opioid consumption and shorter OS (HR=1.77, [CI 95%=0.995-3.149]. p=0.05).
Conclusions:
High requirements of opioids during surgery increase the risk of recurrence and mortality by 27% and 77%, although the association is not statically significant.
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