Palliative surgery for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction: A community hospital experience

Aim: To assess the efficacy of palliative surgery on malignant gastrointestinal obstruction (MGIO), we analyzed postoperative results in patients underwent palliative surgery for the purpose of symptom relief. Patients and methods: Seventeen patients with MGIO were enrolled who underwent palliative surgery to release stenotic symptoms. Post-operative course and prognosis were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The median time to take first diet was 4 days excluding three patients who were unable to eat. Complications more than grade II in Clavien Dindo classification were observed in 3 cases. Thirty-day postoperative mortality was 17.3%. The median survival time (MST) was 148 days. Eleven out of 17 patients could be initiated chemotherapy. Duration of possible oral diet and home stay was significantly longer in patients with chemotherapy than in those without chemotherapy (p = 0.0035, p = 0.0008 respectively). A significantly prolonged survival was also observed (p = 0.0002). Conclusion: Early oral intake was possible by palliative surgery for MGIO. In cases with chemotherapy, it was considered possible to maintain a relatively long-term survival and QOL even in the terminal status.