Critical Analysis of the Causes of In-Hospital Mortality following Colorectal Resection: A Queensland Audit of Surgical Mortality (QASM) Registry Study.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal resection is a major gastrointestinal operation. Improvements in peri-operative care has led to improved outcomes; however, mortalities still occur. Using data from the Queensland Audit of Surgical Mortality (QASM), this study examines the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients who died in hospital following colorectal resection, and also reports the primary cause of death in this population. METHODS: Patients who died in hospital following colorectal resection in Queensland between January 2010 and December 2020 were identified from the QASM database. RESULTS: There were 755 patients who died in the 10 year study period. Pre-operatively, the risk of death as subjectively determined by operating surgeons was 'considerable' in 397 cases (53.0%) and 'expected' in 90 cases (12.0%). The patients had a mean of 2.7 (±1.5) co-morbidities, and a mean American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) score of 3.6 (±0.8). Operations were categorised as emergency in 579 patients (77.2%), with 637 patients (85.0%) requiring post-operative Intensive Care Unit (ICU) support. The primary cause of death was related to a surgical cause in 395 patients (52.7%) and to a medical cause in 355 patients (47.3%). The primary causes of death were advanced surgical pathology (n=292, 38.9%), complications from surgery (n=103, 13.7%), complications arising from pre-existing medical co-morbidity (n=282, 37.6%) or new medical complications unrelated to pre-existing conditions (n=73, 9.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients who died had significant co-morbidities and often presented emergently with an advanced surgical pathology. Surgical and medical causes of death both contributed equally to the mortality burden.

Rectal disc resection improves stool frequency in patients with deep infiltrating endometriosis: A prospective study.

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal symptoms occur with deeply infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) of the rectum. AIMS: To explore the medium-term gastrointestinal functional outcomes after rectal disc resection for endometriosis. METHODS: All women undergoing laparoscopy for stage IV endometriosis at a tertiary referral hospital between November 2016 and January 2018 and had evidence of DIE of the rectum were included. Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS) score was measured using a validated questionnaire. RESULTS: Thirty-six women formed the cohort of the study. The mean age was 37 years (range 20-72 years). All women underwent a laparoscopic anterior rectal disc resection for DIE. The response rate was 100%. There was an increase in the percentage of patients having no LARS postoperatively compared to preoperatively (an increase of 78-83%). There was a reduction in LARS scores postoperatively observed in 18 patients (50%) and the prevalence of major LARS decreased postoperatively from 10% to 1%. Comparison of individual symptoms revealed a significant improvement in postoperative stool frequency scores (P = 0.02). Multivariate analysis using logistic regression analysis demonstrated that reduction in postoperative stool frequency scores remained an independent factor (P = 0.008). CONCLUSION: Rectal disc resection is feasible and safe, achieving observable improvements in stool frequency in patients with rectal DIE.

Management of post-pancreatectomy haemorrhage using resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta.

BACKGROUND: Delayed massive post-pancreatectomy haemorrhage (PPH) is a highly lethal complication after pancreatectomy. Angiographic procedures have led to improved outcomes in the management of these patients. In the setting of an acute haemorrhage, laparotomy and packing are often required to help stablise the patient. However, re-operative surgery in the post-pancreatectomy setting is technically challenging. METHODS: A novel strategy of incorporating the resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is described. RESULTS: Two patients where the specific application of this technique uses the REBOA were described. CONCLUSION: The REBOA serves as a useful adjunct in haemorrhage control and haemodynamic stablisation to allow successful management of delayed massive PPH.

Discrimination, Bullying and Harassment in Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: In 2015, the public media in Australia reported a series of life stories of victims who had been subjected to inappropriate behaviors in their surgical careers, bringing the profession into disrepute. Currently, limited data are available in the medical literature on discrimination, bullying and harassment (DBH) in surgery. This significant information gap prompted a systematic review to compile relevant information about DBH in surgical practice and training, in particular, its prevalence and impact. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed databases (May 1929-October 2017). Studies identified were appraised with standard selection criteria. Data points were extracted, and meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. RESULTS: Eight studies, comprising 5934 participants, were examined. Discrimination occurred in a pooled estimate of 22.4% [95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 14.0-33.9%]. One of the papers reported the prevalence of bullying using two methods including Revised Negative Acts Questionnaire and a definition by Einarsen. Pooled estimate of incidence rate was thus 37.7% (95% CI = 34.0-41.5%) and 40.3% (95% CI = 34.7-46.2%), respectively. In terms of harassment, pooled prevalence was 31.2% (95% CI = 10.0-65.0%). CONCLUSIONS: DBH is a significant issue in surgery. The true incidence of these issues may remain underestimated. Actions are being taken by professional bodies to create a positive culture in surgery. The effectiveness of these strategies is yet to be determined. More studies are warranted to investigate the magnitude of these issues given their psychological impact, and more importantly to monitor the effectiveness of current measures.

Impact of perioperative fluid administration on early outcomes after pancreatoduodenectomy: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) remains a technically challenging surgical procedure with morbidity rates ranging between 30 and 50%. It is suggested that the liberal use of fluids is associated with a poor perioperative outcome. This review examines the impact of fluid administration on outcomes after PD. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the MEDLINE, EMBASE and PubMed database (June 1966-June 2016). Studies identified were appraised with standard selection criteria. Data points were extracted and meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). RESULTS: Eleven studies, seven retrospective trials and four randomized control trials comprising 2842 patients were included. Seven studies were meta-analyzed. There was no difference in length of hospital stay (P = 0.25), pancreas specific complications (P = 0.20), pulmonary (P = 0.58), cardiovascular (P = 0.75), gastrointestinal (P = 0.49), hepatobiliary (P = 0.53), urogenital (P = 0.42), wound complication (P = 0.79), reoperation rate (P = 0.69), overall morbidity (P = 0.18), major morbidity (P = 0.91), 30-day mortality (P = 0.07) and 90-day mortality (P = 0.58) in low or high fluid groups. CONCLUSION: The current available data fails to demonstrate an association between the amount of perioperative intravenous fluid administration and postoperative complications in patients undergoing PD.

Histological Subtype Remains a Significant Prognostic Factor for Survival Outcomes in Patients With Appendiceal Mucinous Neoplasm With Peritoneal Dissemination.

BACKGROUND: It has been increasingly recognized that appendiceal mucinous neoplasm with peritoneal dissemination is not a homogenous disease. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the impact of different histological subtypes on survival of a large cohort of patients with appendiceal mucinous neoplasms uniformly treated by cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. DESIGN: This was a retrospective study of prospectively collected data of patients with peritoneal dissemination of appendiceal neoplasm who underwent cytoreductive surgery and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. SETTING: The study was conducted by 1 surgical team at St. George Hospital. PATIENTS: A total of 444 patients formed the cohort of this study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Histological diagnoses were categorized based on Carr criteria to include acellular mucin, disseminated peritoneal adenomucinosis, peritoneal mucinous neoplasms without signet ring cells, and peritoneal mucinous carcinomatosis with signet cells. RESULTS: Patients with low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasms with neoplastic epithelium absent tended to have lower CEA, CA19-9, and CA125 levels preoperatively (p = 0.109, 0.008, and 0.034). Factor analysis showed that histological diagnosis was an independent prognostic factor for survival outcomes (HR = 3.13 (95% CI, 2.34-4.39); p < 0.001), adjusted for peritoneal cancer index >20, completeness of cytoreductive score ≥2, use of early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy, transfusion units, CEA >7.0 mg/L, CA19-9 >24.0 U/mL, and CA125 >24 U/mL. LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by its retrospective nature, lack of uniform classifications of appendiceal mucinous neoplasms in early years, and the heterogeneity of this study cohort given the long study period. CONCLUSIONS: Histological subtype remains a significant prognostic factor for survival outcomes in patients with appendiceal mucinous neoplasms. It should be taken into account when selecting patients for cytoreductive surgery, tailoring appropriate adjuvant therapies and follow-up surveillance plan.

Physical and chemical characteristics of mucin secreted by pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP).

Background: Pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) is a rare disease with excess intraperitoneal mucin secretion. Treatment involves laparotomy, cytoreduction and chemotherapy that is very invasive with patients often acquiring numerous compromises. Hence a mucolytic comprising of bromelain and N-acetyl cystein has been developed to solubilise mucin in situ for removal by catherization. Owing to differences in mucin appearance and hardness, dissolution varies. Therefore the current study investigates the inter-mucin physical and chemical characteristics, in order to reformulate an effective mucolytic for all mucin. Method: PMP mucin, from the three categories (soft, semi hard and hard mucin) was solubilised and then various physical characteristics such as turbidity, density, kinematic viscosity were measured. The water content and the density of solid mucin were also determined. This was followed by the determination of sialic acid, glucose, lipid, Thiol (S-S and S-H) content of the samples. Lastly, the distribution of MUC2, MUC5B and MUC5AC was determined using western blot technique. Results: Both turbidity and kinematic viscosity and sialic acid content increased linearly as the hardness of mucin increased. However, density, hydration, protein, glucose, lipid and sulfhydryl and disulphide content decreased linearly as hardness of mucin increased. The distribution ratio of mucins (MUC2:MUC5B:MUC5AC) in soft mucin is 2.25:1.5:1.0, semi hard mucin is 1:1:1 and hard mucin is 3:2:1. Conclusion: The difference in texture and hardness of mucin may be due to cellular content, hydration, glucose, protein, lipids, thiol and MUC distribution. Soft mucin is solely made of glycoprotein whilst the others contained cellular materials.

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Enucleation Versus Standardized Resection for Small Pancreatic Lesions.

BACKGROUND: The appropriate surgical strategy in patients with small pancreatic lesions of low malignant potential, such as pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, remains unknown. Increasing reports suggest limited pancreatic surgery may be a safe option for parenchymal preservation. METHODS: PubMed and MEDLINE were searched in the English literature for studies from January 2000 to February 2015 examining enucleation for pancreatic lesions that were single-arm and comparative studies (versus resection). Single-arm enucleation studies were systematically reviewed. Comparative studies were included for meta-analysis. Endpoints include safety, complications, mortality, survival, and parenchymal-related outcomes. RESULTS: Thirteen studies comprising of 1101 patients undergoing enucleation were included. Seven studies were comparative studies of enucleation and standardized pancreatic resection. Enucleation was a shorter procedure (pooled mean differences (MD) = 109, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 105-114; Z = 46.37; P < 0.001) associated with less blood loss (pooled MD = 314, 95 % CI 297-330; Z = 37.47; P < 0.001). Both enucleation and resection had similar mortality and complication rates, but the rate of pancreatic fistula (all grades) (pooled odds ratio (OR) = 1.99; 95 % CI 1.2-3.4; Z = 2.57; P = 0.01] and rate of pancreatic fistula (grade B/C) (pooled OR = 1.58; 95 % CI 1.0-2.5; Z = 2.06; P = 0.04) was higher in the enucleation group. Enucleation resulted in lower rates of endocrine (pooled OR = 0.22; 95 % CI 0.1-0.5; Z = 3.21; P = 0.001) and exocrine (pooled OR = 0.07; 95 % CI 0.02-0.2; Z = 5.08; P < 0.001) insufficiency. The median 5-year survival was 95 % (range 93-98) and 84 % (range 79-90). CONCLUSIONS: Enucleation appears to be a safe procedure and achieves parenchymal preservation for small pancreatic lesions of low malignant potential. Its oncologic efficacy compared with standardized pancreatic resection with respect to long-term survival and recurrences have not been reported adequately and hence may not be concluded as being comparable.

Impacts of Preoperative Serum Albumin Level on Outcomes of Cytoreductive Surgery and Perioperative Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Only few small studies in the literature have explored the impacts of preoperative serum albumin level and clinical outcomes of patients with peritoneal surface malignancy (PSM) who underwent cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and perioperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy (PIC). This study aimed to evaluate the value of preoperative serum albumin as a prognostic factor for long-term survival outcomes after CRS and PIC in a large patient cohort and to determine whether preoperative serum albumin is correlated with perioperative complications. METHODS: This retrospective study examined prospectively collected data for patients with PSM who underwent CRS and PIC by one surgical team at St George Hospital in Sydney, Australia. The study used 35 g/L as the cuffoff for normal serum albumin level. RESULTS: The study enrolled 591 patients. Hypoalbuminemia was found to be associated with a significantly higher rate of major morbidity (p < 0.001), a longer ICU stay (p = 0.003), a longer HDU stay (p < 0.001), a longer total hospital stay (p < 0.001), and a shorter overall survival (OS) (p = 0.016). Factor analysis showed preoperative serum hypoalbuminemia to be a prognostic factor for a poor perioperative outcome (p = 0.018) and a poor OS (p = 0.026). CONCLUSION: Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is associated with poor perioperative outcomes. More importantly, it is a predictor of poorer OS for patients with PSM independent of the PCI, age, and completeness of cytoreduction. In the future, strategies should be undertaken to improve preoperative nutrition of malnourished patients as a means of improving clinical outcomes for patients with PSM.

Endovascular stenting of mesenterico-portal vein stenosis to reduce blood flow through venous collaterals prior to pancreatoduodenectomy.

BACKGROUND: When the mesenterico-portal vein is stenosed due to tumor related compression, venous collaterals develop and flow occurs antegrade towards the portal vein through the collateral tributaries. Undertaking pancreatoduodenectomy for pancreatic cancer in this setting may result in significant blood loss during the process of ligation of these tributaries. DESCRIPTION OF TECHNIQUE: We describe the technique of endovascular stenting of the mesenterico-portal vein to reduce flow within these collateral tributaries and hence blood loss, to facilitate extended pancreatoduodenectomy and vein resection. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous transhepatic placement of endovascular stent into a stenotic mesentero-portal vein facilitates pancreatoduodenectomy by reducing operative time, which would otherwise be required in dealing with the extensive venous collaterals and hence also reducing blood loss.

Effect of nonparallel placement of in-circle bipolar radiofrequency ablation probes on volume of tissue ablated with heat sink.

OBJECTIVES: Percutaneous bipolar radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive technique for treating liver tumors. It is not always possible to insert the bipolar probes parallel to each other on either side of tumor, since it restricts maneuverability away from vital structures or ablate certain tumor shape. Therefore, we investigated how nonparallel placement of probes affected ablation. METHODS: Bipolar RFA in parallel and in divergent positions were submerged in tissue model (800 mL egg white) at 37°C and ablated. Temperature probes, T1 and T2 were placed 8.00 mm below the tip of the probes, T3 in between the probe coil elements and T4 and T5 at water inlet and outlet, respectively. Both models with heat sink (+HS) and without (-HS) were investigated. RESULTS: The mean ablated tissue volume, mass, density and height increased linearly with unit angle increase for -HS model. With +HS, a smaller increase in mean volume and mass, a slightly greater increase in mean density but a reduction in height of tissue was seen. The mean ablation time and duration of maximum temperature with +HS was slightly larger, compared with -HS, while -HS ablated at a slightly higher temperature. The heat sink present was minimal for probes in parallel position compared to nonparallel positions. CONCLUSION: Divergence from parallel insertion of bipolar RFA probes increased the mean volume, mass, and density of tissue ablated. However, the presence of large heat sinks may limit the application of this technique, when tumors border on larger vessels.

A formulation for in situ lysis of mucin secreted in pseudomyxoma peritonei.

Although numerous clinical attempts have been made to disintegrate mucin secreted by pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP), none are clinically recommended. Through examination of the pharmacologic characteristics of two novel agents, we titrated an optimized combination of bromelain and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) that demonstrates in vitro and in vivo efficacy in the dissolution of mucinous ascites from PMP. In the in vitro experiments, 1 g of mucin was incubated in varying concentrations of bromelain (0-400 µg/ml) and NAC (0-5%) individually followed by a combination before arriving at a therapeutic combination dose of 300 µg/ml bromelain+4% NAC. This established an effective dose of bromelain 300 µg/ml+4% NAC at pH 7.0, when tested in a rat model implanted with 3 g of mucin intraperitoneally (IP). IP administration of the drug in a rat model of PMP was shown to result in mucin disintegration within 72 hr with no toxicity observed.

Anticancer effect of bromelain with and without cisplatin or 5-FU on malignant peritoneal mesothelioma cells.

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare neoplasm of the peritoneum, causally related to asbestos exposure. Nonspecific symptoms with a late diagnosis results in poor survival (<1 year). Treatment with cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy has improved survival in some patients (median 3-5 years). Hence, new therapies are urgently needed. MUC1 is a glycosylation-dependent protein that confers tumours with invasiveness, metastasis and chemoresistance. Bromelain (cysteine proteinase) hydrolyses glycosidic bonds. Therefore, we investigated the antitumour effect of bromelain on MUC1-expressing MPM cell lines. MUC1 expressions in cells were assessed using immunofluorescent probes with cells grown on cover slips and western blot analysis on cell lysates. The cell lines were treated with various concentrations of bromelain and after 4 and 72 h, their viability was assessed using standard sulforhodamine assays. The cells were also treated with combinations of bromelain and cytotoxic drugs (cisplatin or 5-FU) and their viability was assessed at 72 h. Finally, with western blotting, the effects of bromelain on cellular survival proteins were investigated. PET cells expressed more MUC1 compared with YOU cells. The cell viability of both PET and YOU cells was adversely affected by bromelain, with PET cells being slightly resistant. The addition of bromelain increased the cytotoxicity of cisplatin significantly in both cell lines. However, 5-FU with bromelain did not show any significant increase in cytotoxicity. Bromelain-induced cell death is by apoptosis and autophagy. Bromelain has the potential of being developed as a therapeutic agent in MPM.

Systematic review of efficacy and outcomes of salvage liver transplantation after primary hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Upfront liver transplantation is the gold standard in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cirrhosis, but a shortage of donor organs negatively impacts on survival outcomes, with significant disease progression during long waiting lists. This systematic review evaluates the safety and efficacy of salvage liver transplantation (SLT) as treatment for recurrent HCC after initial hepatic resection. METHODS: Electronic searches of Pubmed, Embase, and Medline databases identified 130 abstracts, from which 16 eligible studies comprising 319 patients were selected for review. Studies adopting SLT following primary hepatic resection for recurrent HCC with more than five patients were included. Demographic details, morbidity and mortality indices, and survival outcomes were collected from each study and were tabulated. RESULTS: All patients included in the studies had liver cirrhosis, with the majority being Child-Pugh A (50%) and B (33%). The etiology of liver disease was hepatitis B in the majority of patients (84%). Disease recurrence occurred in 27-80% of patients at a median of 21.4 months (range 14.5-34) following initial resection. SLTs were performed on 41% of recurrences, and were associated with biliary complications (8%), infection (11%), bleeding (8%), and vascular complications (7%). There were 18 perioperative deaths (5.6%). The median 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall and disease-free survival was 89%, 80%, and 62%, and 86%, 68%, and 67%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Synthesis of available observational studies suggests that SLT following primary hepatic resection is a highly applicable strategy with long-term survival outcomes that are comparable to upfront liver transplantation.

Heat sink phenomenon of bipolar and monopolar radiofrequency ablation observed using polypropylene tubes for vessel simulation.

BACKGROUND: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is widely used for treating liver tumors; recurrence is common owing to proximity to blood vessels possibly due to the heat sink effect. We seek to investigate this phenomenon using unipolar and bipolar RFA on an egg white tumor tissue model and an animal liver model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Temperature profiles during ablation (with and without vessel simulation) were studied, using both bipolar and unipolar RFA probes by 4 strategically placed temperature leads to monitor temperature profile during ablation. The volume of ablated tissue was also measured. RESULTS: The volume ablated during vessel simulation confirmed the impact of the heat sink phenomenon. The heat sink effect of unipolar RFA was greater compared with bipolar RFA (ratio of volume affected 2:1) in both tissue and liver models. The volume ablated using unipolar RFA was less than the bipolar RFA (ratio of volume ablated = 1:4). Unipolar RFA achieved higher ablation temperatures (122°C vs 98°C). Unipolar RFA resulted in tissue damage beyond the vessel, which was not observed using bipolar RFA. CONCLUSION: Bipolar RFA ablates a larger tumor volume compared with unipolar RFA, with a single ablation. The impact of heat sink phenomenon in tumor ablation is less so with bipolar than unipolar RFA with sparing of adjacent vessel damage.

Anticancer property of bromelain with therapeutic potential in malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.

Bromelain is a mixture of proteolytic enzymes that is capable of hydrolyzing glycosidic linkages in glycoprotein. Glycoprotein's are ubiquitously distributed throughout the body and serve a variety of physiologic functions. Faulty glycosylation of proteins may lead to cancer. Antitumor properties of bromelain have been demonstrated in both, in vitro and in vivo studies, along with scanty anecdotal human studies. Various mechanistic pathways have been proposed to explain the anticancer properties of bromelain. However, proteolysis by bromelain has been suggested as a main pathway by some researchers. MUC1 is a glycoprotein that provides tumor cells with invasive, metastatic, and chemo-resistant properties. To date, there is no study that examines the effect of bromelain on MUC1. However, the viability of MUC1 expressing pancreatic and breast cancer cells are adversely affected by bromelain. Further, the efficacy of cisplatin and 5-FU are enhanced by adjuvant treatment with bromelain, indicating that the barrier function of MUC1 may be affected. Other studies have also indicated that there is a greater accumulation of 5-FU in the cell compartment on treatment with 5-FU and bromelain. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) expresses MUC1 and initial studies have shown that the viability of MPM cells is adversely affected by exposure to bromelain. Further, bromelain in combination with either 5-FU or cisplatin, the efficacy of the chemotherapeutic drug is enhanced. Hence, current evidence indicates that bromelain may have the potential of being developed into an effective anticancer agent for MPM.

Pelvic exenteration for rectal cancer: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic exenteration is a potentially curative treatment for locally advanced primary or recurrent rectal cancer. OBJECTIVE: This systematic review examines the current evidence regarding clinical and oncological outcomes in patients with locally advanced primary and recurrent rectal cancer who undergo pelvic exenteration. DATA SOURCES: A literature search of PubMed, Medline, and the Cochrane library was undertaken, and studies published in the English language from January 2000 to August 2012 were identified. STUDY SELECTION: Prospective and retrospective studies that report outcomes of pelvic exenteration for primary advanced and locally recurrent rectal cancer with or without subgroup evaluation were included for examination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Oncological outcomes included 5-year survival, median survival, and local recurrence rates. Clinical outcomes included complication rates and perioperative mortality rates. RESULTS: A total of 23 studies with 1049 patients were reviewed. The complication rates ranged from 37% to 100% (median, 57%) and the perioperative mortality rate ranged from 0% to 25% (median, 2.2%). The rate of local recurrence ranged from 4.8% to 61% (median, 22%). The median survival for primary advanced rectal cancers was 14 to 93 months (median, 35.5 months) and 8 to 38 months (median, 24 months) for locally recurrent rectal cancer. LIMITATIONS: Our review was limited by the small sample sizes from single-institutional studies reporting outcomes over long periods of time with heterogeneity in both the disease and treatments reported. CONCLUSIONS: Although the human costs and risks are significant, the potentially favorable survival outcomes make this acceptable in the absence of other effective treatment modalities that would otherwise result in debilitating symptoms that afflict patients who have advanced pelvic malignancy.

Summary outcomes of two-stage resection for advanced colorectal liver metastases.

BACKGROUND: Surgical resection is associated with improved long-term survival in patients with colorectal liver metastases (CLM). However, majority of patients have unresectable bilobar advanced liver metastases. Two-stage resection (TSR) allows selected patients to achieve complete resection when combined with chemotherapy and interventional radiological procedures. METHODS: Electronic search of the MEDLINE and PubMed databases (January 2000-October 2011) to identify studies examining the outcomes of the surgical approach of TSR of advanced CLM was undertaken. RESULTS: Twelve studies were examined. This comprised 488 patients. A median of 77% (range: 64-100%) of planned patients completed TSR. The most common reason for failure was due to disease progression observed in a median of 100% (range: 56-100%) of patients. Second-stage resection appeared to be more morbid compared to first-stage resection with higher complication rates (33% vs. 14%) and requiring more blood transfusions (3 U vs. 1 U). Completed TSR achieved a median survival of 37 (range: 18-66) months, median 3-year survival rate of 60% (range: 45-84%), and median 5-year survival rate of 48% (range: 32-70%). In patients who failed TSR, the median survival was 16 (range: 10-29) months. CONCLUSION: In carefully selected candidates with advanced bilobar CLM, the TSR approach achieves long-term survival in patients who would otherwise be considered for palliative chemotherapy only. Despite failing to complete TSR, patients had an encouraging survival outcome that appeared to compare favorably over palliative chemotherapy alone.