Aim: To summarize the literature on the long-term impact of perioperative opioids in colorectal cancer.
Materials & methods: Combined results from two searching strategies in PubMed/MEDLINE (1950-2018), based on a PICO approach; P: Opioid influence on cancer-related long-term outcome in patient undergoing colorectal surgery; I: Opioid drugs administered in the perioperative period; C: Correlation between dose and/or type of opioid with long-term oncologic outcome; O: Disease-free survival and/or overall survival (OS).
Results: Thirteen articles fulfilled the predetermined inclusion criteria. Due to the heterogeneity of the different studies, a quantitative meta-analysis to sum the evidence was deemed unfeasible.
Conclusion: Our review indicates that there is no conclusive evidence to avoid the use of opioids with the goal of reducing the risk of recurrence in colorectal cancer.
Keywords: colorectal cancer; opioids; recurrence-free survival.