Insights and progress on postoperative analgesia of radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a comprehensive review

TL;DR

This paper reviews progress in managing post-surgery pain after gastric cancer operations, aiming to improve recovery and patient outcomes.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive review of analgesic strategies and their mechanisms for gastric cancer surgery.

Findings

Postoperative pain affects recovery and prognosis in gastric cancer patients.

Current analgesic methods lack sufficient clinical validation for effectiveness and safety.

Individualized analgesia protocols are gaining attention for better pain management.

Abstract

Gastric cancer is a common and highly lethal malignancy of the digestive system, with surgical resection as the primary treatment approach. However, postoperative analgesia management remains a major clinical challenge. Postoperative pain not only affects recovery speed but may also lead to complications, thereby influencing prognosis. Recent research on postoperative pain following gastric cancer surgery has expanded, exploring various analgesic methods, including pharmacological therapy, neuraxial blocks, and non-pharmacological approaches, with growing emphasis on individualized analgesia protocols. Despite the proposal of multiple analgesic techniques, current research indicates that their effectiveness and safety are still inadequately assessed in clinical applications. This review aims to discuss the physiological mechanisms of postoperative pain following gastric cancer surgery, modern analgesic strategies, and related research, to provide a theoretical basis and clinical guidance for improving postoperative quality of life.