Study: Sevoflurane Anesthesia Does Not Increase Cancer Risk

Sevoflurane anesthesia does not increase the risk of cancer in cancer-free patients who undergo surgery, according to a Doctors Lounge report.

The study, published in the Oct. 2011 issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, found that neither the duration of anesthesia nor the time measured with the bispectral index under 45 are associated with the risk of new malignant disease within five years.

Maj-Lis Lindholm, PhD, from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues investigated whether patients were diagnosed with cancer within five years of surgery. The risk of cancer during follow-up in relation to duration of anesthesia and time measured with the bispectral index under 45 were assessed, and then compared to the incidence of cancer in the standardized general population.

No correlation was found between duration of anesthesia or time measured with the bispectral index under 45 and new malignant disease. According to the author, neither factor was associated with increased risk for new malignant disease within five years of surgery in previously cancer-free patients.

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