IMR Press / CEOG / Volume 49 / Issue 8 / DOI: 10.31083/j.ceog4908173
Open Access Original Research
Malignant Bowel Obstruction in Ovarian Cancer Recurrence: The Role of Palliative Surgery in a Decision-Making Process
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1 Division of Oncologic Gynecology, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
2 Centro di Studio e Ricerca delle Neoplasie Ginecologiche (CSR), University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
3 Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences-DIMEC, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
4 Forensic Medicine and Integrated Risk Management Unit, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
5 Department of Experimental, Diagnostic, and Specialty Medicine-DIMES, Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna University, 40138 Bologna, Italy
6 Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
7 Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology (FABIT), University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
*Correspondence: myriam.perrone@unibo.it (Anna Myriam Perrone)
Academic Editors: Stefano Cianci, Tengiz Charkviani, Kenny Chitcholtan and Shigeki Matsubara
Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2022, 49(8), 173; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.ceog4908173
Submitted: 3 February 2022 | Revised: 29 March 2022 | Accepted: 7 April 2022 | Published: 26 July 2022
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) is often the latest stage in ovarian cancer (OC). The therapy of this condition ranges from medical waiting to surgery. The objective of this pilot study is to compare the two strategies so that we can provide a path forward for future studies. Methods: From 700 women diagnosed with OC in the database of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology we crossed the names of those admitted by the emergency services of the IRCSS Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria of Bologna, Italy. We selected MBO patients with a history of OC as the only neoplastic condition and compared the results between medical conduct and surgery to restore intestinal transit. Results: Of the 700 women in our database, 36 were eligible for study according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria: 9 in surgery group and 27 in medical group. Surgical conduct (tumor biopsy and stoma) appears to be resolutory for the obstruction and have a better result than medical therapy regarding recurrence of MBO, despite the development of greater complications. Relapses of MBOs occurred in 11% of surgical patients and 44% of medical patients (p = 0.0714). Furthermore, after surgical treatment, five patients (55%) experienced postoperative complications; in four cases, severe anemia requiring blood transfusion, while one patient developed post-surgical sepsis, which evolved into multiple organ failure and death. Of the 9 patients treated surgically, 2 (22%) were given surgery as a first choice. In most cases (78%), surgery was decided upon when medical treatment failed. The only discriminative factor appears to be age. The length of hospitalization increased with the patient’s age (p = 0.0181) as statistically significant factors for a worse outcome in surgery. Conclusions: MBO requires complex and multidisciplinary management where different factors need to be considered before initiating surgical therapy. Future studies are needed to deal with this complex problem.

Keywords
ovarian carcinoma
carcinosis
recurrence
malignant bowel obstruction
palliative care
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