The Role of Spinal Anaesthesia with and without Intrathecal Opioid Coadministration in Improving Oncologic Outcomes after Endoscopic Transurethral Cancer Surgery

Spinal anaesthesia (SA) (compared to general) improves postoperative oncologic outcomes in transurethral resection of the bladder tumour (TURBT) for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Intrathecal coadministration of opioids does not affect NK cells function, and improves postoperative opioid sparing as well. There are no comparative data on oncologic outcomes of SA with/without intrathecal opioid in TURBT, which is the aim of our study. Seventy ASA I-III patients with NMIBC, aged ≥ 43 (range 43-90), who underwent one or more TURBT under SA were examined retrospectively. Of them, 36 received levobupivacaine 15 mg (L group) and 34 levobupivacaine 12.5 mg + fentanyl 12.5 mcg (LF group) intrathecally. All patients received scheduled Paracetamol 1.0 g/6 h, optional NSAIDs and as needed Tramadol as well. Data regarding demographics, ASA and CCI scores, analgesics consumption, urethrotomies, tumour-related factors (size, number, grade, stage, prior disease-recurrence, adjuvant therapy), tumour risk (low, intermediate, high), oncologic outcomes (recurrence rate/free time after TURB during the regular cystoscopy every 3 months/first year, every six months thereafter) were explored as well. LF patients were older, with less analgesics consumption and with a tendency towards longer recurrence-free time compared to L patients (p=0.074). The recurrence at three months along with prior and new disease-recurrences comprise our minority (n=27) with aggressive course of the disease. Among the rest the majority, LF subgroup (n=19) had lower recurrence rate than L subgroup (n=24) (p=0.03). As part of multimodal analgesic strategy, SA with intrathecal opioid coadministration may play a significant complementary role regarding oncologic outcomes after TURBT for NMIBC.