Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for Perioperative Care in Oncologic Surgical Cases: A Narrative Review

Background: Cancer pain affects approximately 44.5% of all patients with malignancy and up to 55–65% of those with advanced or metastatic disease; a substantial proportion remain inadequately controlled with conventional pharmacological approaches alone. Peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), a minimally invasive neuromodulatory strategy, has emerged as a potential opioid-sparing analgesic option for the perioperative management of oncologic surgical patients. Objectives: This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on the application, mechanisms, clinical efficacy, safety, and integration of temporary and permanent PNS systems in cancer patients, with specific focus on cancer-specific pain syndromes, key clinical studies, opioid-sparing immunological implications, evidence quality, and directions for future research. Methods: As a narrative review, this work was structured in accordance with the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) to ensure methodological transparency. A focused, non-systematic literature search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was performed from database inception through March 2026, supplemented by hand-searching of reference lists and targeted retrieval of clinical practice guidelines. Sources were selected on the basis of relevance to PNS or closely analogous peripheral neurostimulation modalities in oncologic, perioperative, or chronic pain contexts. Evidence was synthesized narratively, with each cited study graded using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (OCEBM) 2011 Levels of Evidence framework to enable transparent calibration of confidence. Results: Available preliminary and largely extrapolated evidence supports PNS as a promising but not yet established useful adjunct in oncologic perioperative care; because cancer-specific data rest substantially on a single pilot study (n = 12), one retrospective review (n = 15), and extrapolation from non-cancer populations, these conclusions should be regarded as hypothesis-generating. Randomized controlled trial data from non-cancer cohorts demonstrate opioid consumption reductions of approximately 80–90% in the PAINfRE trial, while the post-amputation trial demonstrated ≥50% pain-relief responder rates and reductions in pain interference, with clinically meaningful improvements in pain and function. Oncologic-specific pilot and retrospective evidence confirms feasibility and a 58–67% success rate across diverse cancer pain subtypes. Conclusions: The opioid-sparing properties of PNS carry additional biological plausibility for preserving perioperative antitumor immune function. High-quality prospective trials specifically designed for oncologic surgical populations remain needed to establish evidence-based recommendations.