Abstract
Aim : Palliative surgery for incurable malignancies is useful in relieving symptoms. These patients present with pain, and their general conditions is often poor. Therefore, pain related to surgery should be minimal, and the procedure must be minimally invasive. Thus, it is thought that laparoscopic surgery is suitable for surgical palliation procedures. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and efficacy of laparoscopic palliative operations.
Method : A retrospective analysis of 43 patients who underwent laparoscopic palliative operations between 2005 and 2012 in our institution was done.
Results : The mean duration of the operation was 119 minutes, and the mean blood loss was 25 mL. The incidence of postoperative complications was 10%, the symptom improvement rate was 98%, and the hospital mortality was 19%.
Conclusion : Laparoscopic palliative surgery can be performed on patients with incurable malignancies provided a thorough preoperative assessment is done, and the surgery is skillfully executed.
