Perioperative Pain Management and Cancer Outcomes: A Narrative Review

Cancer-related pain is one of the most common and incapacitating symptoms for cancer patients. Cancer pain can be caused by diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, side effects and toxicity from therapy, or the cancer itself. Uncontrolled cancer-related pain is associated with inadequate quality of life and reduced functional status. Optimal pain management during the perioperative period requires a tailored approach. Interventions that are recommended for the management of acute surgical pain include regional anesthesia, local anesthetic infusions, non-opioid analgesics (ketamine, dexmedetomidine, lidocaine, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and opioids. Despite continued research efforts and advances in cancer treatment, opioids remain the most effective medication to treat moderate to severe cancer-related pain; however, their role has been changing significantly due to the opioid epidemic and opioid misuse. While pre-clinical and retrospective studies have shown a negative association between opioid use and cancer outcomes, randomized control trials have failed to confirm this association. The purpose of this review is to summarize the pharmacological management of acute cancer-related pain during the perioperative period with an emphasis on cancer recurrence.