Propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia is associated with less postoperative recurrence than desflurane anesthesia in thyroid cancer surgery.

BACKGROUND

The effects of anesthesia in patients undergoing thyroid cancer surgery are still not known. We investigated the relationship between the type of anesthesia and patient outcomes following elective thyroid cancer surgery.

METHODS

This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent elective surgical resection for papillary thyroid carcinoma between January 2009 and December 2019. Patients were grouped according to the type of anesthesia they received, desflurane or propofol. A Kaplan-Meier analysis was conducted, and survival/recurrence curves were presented from the date of surgery to death/recurrence. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were used to compare hazard ratios for recurrence after propensity matching.

RESULTS

A total of 621 patients (22 deaths, 3.5%) under desflurane anesthesia and 588 patients (32 deaths, 5.4%) under propofol anesthesia were included. Five hundred and eighty-eight patients remained in each group after propensity matching. Propofol anesthesia was not associated with better survival compared to desflurane anesthesia in the matched analysis (P = 0.086). However, propofol anesthesia was associated with less recurrence (hazard ratio, 0.38; 95% confidence interval, 0.25-0.56; P < 0.001) in the matched analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Propofol anesthesia was associated with less recurrence, but not mortality, following surgery for papillary thyroid carcinoma than desflurane anesthesia. Further prospective investigation is needed to examine the influence of propofol anesthesia on patient outcomes following thyroid cancer surgery.