Cervical epidural anesthesia is associated with increased cancer-free survival in laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer surgery: a retrospective propensity-matched analysis.

Background And Objectives: Regional anesthesia preserves perioperative immune competence and may reduce the risk of recurrence and metastasis after cancer surgery. Cervical epidural anesthesia provides adequate analgesia for head and neck cancer surgery, but its impact on cancer recurrence is unknown.

Methods: This study was a single-center retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing larynx or hypopharynx cancer surgery between January 1984 and December 2008.