Preoperative Preparation and Patient Selection for Cytoreductive Surgery and HIPEC

Peritoneal dissemination is a significant variable affecting long term survival of abdominal cancer patients. A generally accepted clinical point of view is that peritoneal dissemination is tantamount to distant organ metastases. This implies it to be a terminal condition. Current practice dictates that if peritoneal dissemination is observed intraoperatively, the curative therapeutic options are deferred and comprehensive systemic chemotherapy remains the only option with a dismal prognosis. The past few years have generated lot of interest in management of peritoneal carcinomatosis. Prof Paul Sugarbaker has researched, validated and fine-tuned the concept of cytoreductive surgery with peritonectomy procedure (Sugarbaker technique) and perioperative chemotherapy as HIPEC & EPIC. Recognition of a HIPEC centre is based on an infrastructure equipped with basic knowledge of the tumor biology, oncosurgical techniques, technical knowhow for HIPEC administration, intensive care unit etc. There are some aspects which need to be accorded special consideration. Comprehensive therapy of Cytoreduction surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is initiated with exploration and cytoreductive surgery and includes visceral resections and peritonectomy procedure when achieved optimally results in complete, visible resection of all cancer within the abdomen and pelvis. Subsequent to CRS, HIPEC forms an integral part of the surgical procedure. This approach involves conceptual changes in both the route and timing of chemotherapy administration. Patient selection is of utmost importance. The greatest impediment to lasting benefits from intraperitoneal chemotherapy remains an improper patient selection. Currently, there are four important clinical assessments of peritoneal metastasis that need to be used to select patients ie; histopathological type of tumour, radiological distribution of disease, peritoneal cancer index and completeness of cytoreduction. Patients undergoing HIPEC surgery face the usual physiological insults of a major surgery in addition to the thermal stress secondary to intraperitoneal administration of heated chemotherapy agent. A team approach of everyone involved in care of these patients is known to improve patient outcomes. It has also been observed that with the necessary preoperative & perioperative steps, the morbidity and mortality for this treatment can be brought down as comparable to any other major abdominal surgeries.