Effect of Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia on Perioperative Neutrophil Extracellular Trapping Markers in Patients Undergoing Anesthesia and Surgery for Colorectal Cancer: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Background Neutrophil extracellular trapping (NETosis) is an immunologic mechanism strongly linked with increased metastatic risk in colorectal cancer. The authors hypothesized that patients who received propofol–epidural anesthesia (PEA) would exhibit decreases in the expression of serum neutrophil myeloperoxidase (MPO) and citrullinated histone H3 (H3Cit) levels compared with patients who received general anesthesia (GA). Methods Colorectal cancer surgery patients were randomly assigned to the PEA ( n = 30) or GA ( n = 30) group. Serum MPO, H3Cit, and metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels before surgery and 24 h after surgery were measured, and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores were recorded. Results The patients who received PEA showed decreases in MPO (28.06 ± 11.23 vs 20.54 ± 7.29 ng/ ml; P = 0.004) and H3Cit [3.22 ± 0.86 vs 2.73 ± 0.94 ng/ ml; P = 0.042) 24 h after surgery compared with the patients subjected to GA. In addition, there was no difference in MMP-9 levels (75.98 ± 26.9 vs 73.45 ± 28.4 ng/ ml; P = 0.726). The visual analogue scale scores 2 h and 24 h after operation were significantly lower in PEA group ( P < 0.05). The number of postoperative analgesia pump pressings and sufentanil consumptions within 48 h after surgery were significantly lower in the PEA group ( P < 0.001). Conclusions Propofol–epidural anesthesia reduces the expression of NETosis (MPO and H3Cit) in serum during colorectal cancer surgery. Clinical trial registration: ChiCTR2200066708 ( www.chictr.org.cn ).