Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

Inhalational or Intravenous Anesthesia during Surgery for Patients with Colon Cancer, VIVA Study

Trial Status: active

This phase II randomized trial compares the effect of inhalational anesthesia (drawn in through the lungs) to total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) (through a needle in a vein in the arm) in changing the body’s ability to recover from surgery and in affecting the immune system immediately after surgery in patients with colon cancer. A randomized clinical trial is a study in which the participants are divided by chance into separate groups that compare different interventions. Using chance to divide people into groups means that the groups will be similar and that the effects of the treatments they receive can be compared more fairly. Surgery and anesthesia can both cause stress to the body which can cause a temporarily lowered immune system. Anesthesiologists and surgeons disagree about whether these types of anesthesia change recovery from surgery or change the chance of cancer coming back following surgery. This study may help researchers learn how different types of general anesthesia impact the body’s recovery from surgery or cancer recurrence following surgery in colon cancer patients.