Abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to review our experience with palliative ostomy surgery in patients with bowel obstruction and advanced stage colorectal cancer.
DESIGN: A descriptive, retrospective review of data from a prospectively collected clinical database.
SUBJECTS AND SETTING: The sample comprised 86 patients (55 male) who underwent palliative surgery between October 1998 and January 2009.
METHODS: All patients undergoing palliative stoma formation without resection for colorectal carcinoma were identified from a prospectively compiled colorectal cancer database. Patients having colorectal stent placement and bypass surgery were excluded from analysis.
RESULTS: The median age at surgery was 71 years (interquartile range, 65-79 years). The median survival following ostomy creation was 103 days (interquartile range, 19-263 days). Sixty-nine percent of participants (n = 59) survived 30 days and 18% (n=16) survived 12 months.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirm that patients undergoing palliative stoma formation have limited life expectancy. Nevertheless, these findings are encouraging when compared to the anticipated outcomes of untreated bowel obstruction.