Perioperative Carcinoid Crisis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Surgery is the only curative option for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET) and is also indicated for debulking of liver metastasis. Intraoperative carcinoid crisis (CC) is thought to be a potentially lethal complication. Though perioperative octreotide is often recommended for prevention, recent NET society guidelines raised concerns regarding limited data supporting its use. We sought to evaluate existing evidence characterizing CC and evaluating the efficacy of prophylactic octreotide.

A systematic review was performed on studies including patients having surgery for well-differentiated NET and/or NET liver metastasis (2000-2021), and reporting data on the incidence, risk factors, or prognosis of CC, and/or use of prophylactic octreotide. Meta-analysis was performed using random-effects models.

Eight studies met inclusion criteria (n = 943 operations). The pooled incidence of CC was 19% (95% CI [0.06-0.36]). Liver metastasis (odds ratio 2.85 [1.49-5.47]) and gender (male 0.58 [0.34-0.99]) were the only significant risk factors. The occurrence of CC was associated with increased risk of major postoperative complications (2.12 [1.03-4.35]). The use of prophylactic octreotide was not associated with decreased risk of CC (0.73 [0.32-1.66]). Notably, there was no standard prophylactic octreotide strategy used.

Intraoperative carcinoid crisis is a common complication occurring in up to 20% of patients with midgut NET and/or liver metastasis undergoing surgery. Prophylactic octreotide may not provide an efficient way to prevent this complication. Future studies should focus on prospective evaluation of well-defined prophylactic protocols using a standardized definition for CC.