Short-term outcomes following cytoreductive surgery and heated intra-peritoneal chemotherapy at Waikato.

AIM: Pseudomyxoma peritonei is a rare disease that affects 1-2 per million population per year. Treatment with cytoreductive surgery with heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS with IPC) has been well described. The purpose of this study was to look at the short-term outcomes following CRS with IPC for all such patients treated in Waikato.

METHOD: Records for all patients presenting to surgery for CRS with IPC were retrospectively reviewed. CRS with IPC was performed in accordance with the techniques described by Sugarbaker. Data recorded included patient characteristics, characteristics of surgical treatment and early post-operative outcomes.

RESULTS: Sixty-eight patients underwent 72 procedures. Fourteen patients were deemed unresectable at surgery and were treated palliatively. The median age was 57 with the majority being female (59%). The median time, from the decision made for surgery to CRS with IPC, was three months. The median prior surgical score was 1 and the median peritoneal cancer index (PCI) was 19.5. The median operating time was 9.08 hours (5.43-15.20). The majority of patients (76%) had pseudomyxoma peritonei, while the remainder had a combination of other appendiceal, colorectal, ovarian, gastric and primary mesothelial primaries. The major complication rate was 24% and the 30-day mortality rate was 1.4%. The median hospital stay was 12 days.

CONCLUSION: Short-term outcomes following CRS with IPC at Waikato are comparable to those published in the literature. Further follow-up is anticipated for the publication of survival and recurrence data.