title: The controversial 'second-look' laparotomy.
abstract: To determine optimal indications for and clinical assessment of the significance of relaparotomy, the data of 304 women with malignant ovarian tumours (of epithelial origin, predominantly, 72%) who had undergone a 'second-look' operation were analysed. 'Second-look' relaparotomies were performed 10-22 months after the initial operation, on the following clinical indications: 1) clinical remission after initial combined treatment (surgery + chemotherapy) in cases where malignant cells are found at systematically performed cytological examinations of ??? or lavage from peritoneal surfaces of the Douglas cul-de-sac plus high levels of CA 125 in blood serum (8 patients with stages I and II, FIGO classification); 2) remission after adequate combined treatment and following 6-10 cycles of polychemotherapy, in order to decide whether to abandon or continue with treatment (13 patients with stages III and IV); 3) clinical remission following initial operation which was voluminously non-radical (117 patients); 4) suspicion of tumour recurrence after adequate combined treatment (114 patients); 5) no suspicion of cancer recurrence, though with ventral hernia or other pathology requiring relaparotomy (22 patients). Complications arising at the 'second-look' operation or during the postoperative period were observed in 29 of the 304 patients (9.5%), giving a postoperative mortality of 0.9%. According to experience, the positive significance of 'second-look' operations to optimize treatment of patients with malignant ovarian tumours is obvious.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology, N.N. Petrov Research Institute of Oncology, St.-Petersburg, Russia.
authors.lastname: Bokhman YaV
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Vinokurov
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Gulo
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003536:Cystadenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012086:Reoperation