Patient Experiences After Aborted Cancer Surgery: A Qualitative Study.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Surgical Oncology
• Qualitative Research

Background:

• Surgical resection is vital for curative-intent solid-organ cancer treatment.
• Aborted cancer surgeries, often due to metastasis or unresectability, are frequent but under-researched.
• Patient experiences, care needs, and preferences after aborted surgery require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the experiences of patients who underwent an aborted cancer surgery.
• To identify the care needs and treatment preferences of this patient population.
• To characterize the impact of aborted cancer surgery on quality of life.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semistructured interviews with 15 patients who experienced aborted cancer surgery.
• Utilized NVivo 12 for audio recording, transcription, and coding by two independent researchers.
• Employed an integrative qualitative analysis approach (inductive and deductive) to identify themes until saturation.

Main Results:

• Common reasons for aborted surgery included local tumor unresectability (8 patients) and occult metastatic disease (7 patients).
• Key themes emerged regarding physical symptoms, emotional responses, social/life impacts, coping mechanisms, and support received.
• Patient experiences spanned physical, emotional, social, and existential domains.

Conclusions:

• Aborted cancer surgery profoundly affects multiple aspects of a patient's quality of life.
• There is a critical need for patient-centered interventions to improve quality of life post-aborted surgery.
• Understanding patient experiences is essential for developing targeted supportive care strategies.