Laparoscopic peritoneal lavage in staging gastric and oesophageal cancer

Richard Bryan, Neil Cruickshank, SJ Needham, Deborah Stocken, Jennifer Young, Michael Hallissey, John Fielding

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

AIMS: Accurate staging of gastric, oesophageal and oesophagogastric cancer is essential to avoid unnecessary laparotomies in patients where only palliation is appropriate. This requires a multimodal approach utilizing endoscopy, computed tomography and laparoscopy. Previous authors have found that the presence of free peritoneal tumour cells (FPTCs) detected at laparoscopy or laparotomy confers a poorer prognosis. However, various methods of peritoneal lavage are described. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of our technique of peritoneal lavage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 88 staging laparoscopies with peritoneal lavage were carried out between March 1997 and February 1999 on patients eligible for attempted curative resection of a gastric, oesophageal or oesophagogastric cancer. During laparoscopy the pelvis was irrigated with 200 ml of normal saline, with 100 ml aspirated and examined cytologically. Patients were followed-up until September, 1999. RESULTS: 11 patients had FPTC-positive cytology with a median survival following laparoscopy of 122 days (95% CI 82-161) with only a single patient surviving more than one year. In the FPTC-negative group, median survival was 378 days (95% CI 256,-). Log-rank Chi(2)=16.7, P
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)291-297
Number of pages7
JournalEuropean Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO)
Volume27
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2001

Keywords

  • staging
  • lavage
  • cytology
  • cancer

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