Surgery to remove metastases in the peritoneum (abdominal cavity)

HIPEC surgery is intended for people with primary or secondary (metastasized) malignant tumors in the peritoneal cavity that have not metastasized to distant organs, such as the lungs, bones, or brain.

What is HIPEC surgery?

In HIPEC surgery, the surgeon removes all metastases from the abdominal cavity. This complex operation may necessitate removing all or part of the abdominal organs that the tumor has affected.

After removal of the tumor and metastases, the abdominal cavity is flushed with high-temperature chemotherapy. The purpose of this procedure is to destroy remaining microscopic cancer cells in the abdominal cavity that are not visible. Heated (hyperthermic) chemotherapy increases its effectiveness in destroying cancer cells. The surgeons then close the patient’s abdomen, and the patient is transferred to recovery.

In contrast to intravenous (IV) chemotherapy, the chemotherapy dose administered directly to the abdominal cavity is up to 20 times higher. Combining tumor resection with immediate local post-resection hyperthermic chemotherapy is the most successful way today to treat metastases in the peritoneal cavity.

Follow-on care

After HIPEC surgery, the care team, including the surgeon and oncologist, monitors the patient. In certain instances, the patient may need additional chemotherapy.

Along with the potential benefits that surgery offers in quality of life and improved life expectancy in patients with cancer, it is important to highlight that due to the complexity and scope of the cancer and surgery, complications may occur.

In order to minimize complications as much as possible, it is essential that the preoperative evaluation and surgery be performed by a highly skilled team of experts.

Potential procedure complications

Due to the complexity and scope of HIPEC surgery, patients undergo a thorough preoperative evaluation in which Assuta’s team of surgical and oncological specialists decide whether to perform the procedure. The surgery is not suitable for everyone and involves risks, adverse effects, and a lengthy rehabilitation process.

Possible complications include infections, gastric fluid leaks, and, in rare cases, internal bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract or damage to organs such as the pancreas, liver, or urinary tract. However, it is important to note that along with the risks, probability is high that the patient’s life expectancy and health will improve.