Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) is a procedure used to treat patients with advanced stage abdominal cancers and cancers spreading into the peritoneum.

A 48-year-old man from India was diagnosed with late stage appendiceal cancer which had spread extensively into the peritoneum. For his case, chemotherapy would not work. CRS and HIPEC was the only solution for him.

According to Dr Melissa Teo, Senior Consultant and Surgical Oncologist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, “After diagnosing the patient with late stage appendiceal cancer (you may put in the exact term for the cancer), we decided that CRS and HIPEC provided him with the best medical outcome.”

The procedure is carried out in two parts. In the first part, cytoreductive surgery is done to remove at much cancerous tissue from the abdomen as possible. Next, which is called the HIPEC procedure, a heated sterile solution containing a chemotherapeutic agent is circulated throughout the abdominal cavity. This process can avoid the usual side effects of chemotherapy.

Normally the entire procedure, including surgery and HIPEC, may take between 6-18 hours to complete because surgery times vary. The more extensive the disease, the longer the surgery can take.
In this case, Dr Teo operated for a total of 14 hours to save this man’s life.
Thanks to the skill and experience of Dr Teo and the medical team from Mt. Elizabeth Hospitals Novena, the patient made a good recovery and was discharged in 10 day.