Key clinical point: Survival outcomes are unaffected by postoperative opioid use in patients who have undergone hepatectomy or liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Major finding: Patients who did vs did not receive opioids had no significant difference in overall survival (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.10; P = .478) or recurrence-free survival (aHR 1.15; P = .229).
Study details: This retrospective cohort study included 812 patients aged >20 years with HCC who underwent hepatectomy and did (n = 530) or did not (n = 282) receive opioids during the postoperative period.
Disclosures: This study did not receive any funding. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Yeh PH et al. No association of postoperative opioid usage with long-term surgery outcomes in patients with liver cancer: A population-based retrospective cohort study. Pain. 2022 (Sep 8). Doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002776