Quality of life after cytoreductive surgery and HIPEC: A single centre prospective study

Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has become a crucial method in the management of peritoneal metastasis. This study evaluated the Quality of Life (QoL) post CRS plus HIPEC.

80/95 patients underwent CRS plus HIPEC at the Metaxa Cancer Hospital, Piraeus, Greece from 06/2011 to 06/2015 and completed the colorectal version of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy questionnaire (FACTC, version 4) at 1 week pre-operatively and at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24 months post-operatively. The subscales assessed were the physical, social/family, emotional and functional wellbeing.

In all subscales, fluctuations in the scores indicated a worsening of QoL in the first 3 post-operative months, followed by improvement back to pre-operative levels and even better scores later on. Statistical improvement was proven for the physical and emotional well-being subscales.

The significant improvement in the physical well-being is attributed to the eradication of symptoms, whereas the relevant improvements in the emotional wellbeing subscale are explained both by the pre-operative desperation of the diagnosis or relapse of malignancy, and the post-operative hopefulness after a successful operation.