Gastrointestinal anastomotic healing during treatment with perioperative 5-fluorouracil

This clinical study examines the influence of perioperative administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) on gastrointestinal anastomotic healing. Intravenous 5-FU, 10 mg/kg body weight, was started during surgery and continued for 9 days only when advanced cancer was detected. A total of 32 gastric and enteric anastomoses were performed. All 32 patients with anastomoses recovered without any clinical evidence of leakage. Side effects attributed to 5-FU appeared in five patients, usually in a mild form of diarrhea and vomiting. On the whole, the course of recovery of this group was no different than expected from patients with advanced malignancy undergoing extensive surgery. Based on this, it appears that 5-FU administration during and immediately after surgery has no deleterious effect on the gastrointestinal tract.