Scoping Review on Opioid-Free Anesthetic Procedures in Adults Undergoing Thoracic Surgery: Efficacy, Safety, and Clinical Outcomes

This study aims to map and synthesize the available evidence on the use of opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) techniques in thoracic surgery, focusing on analgesic efficacy, safety, and perioperative clinical outcomes. The review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and will be reported according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Electronic searches will be conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for studies published between January 2009 and February 2026 in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Randomized clinical trials, observational studies, systematic reviews, and clinical guidelines evaluating opioid-free anesthetic strategies in adults undergoing thoracic surgery will be included. Two independent reviewers will conduct study selection and data extraction. Findings will be synthesized using descriptive and narrative methods, mapping the anesthetic techniques used and their reported clinical outcomes.