Complications of Cytoreductive Surgery and HIPEC in the Treatment of Peritoneal Metastases

The combined treatment concept of cytoreductive surgery (CRS) and Hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has shown to be an efficient therapeutic option for selected patients with primary and secondary peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). This strategy represents the standard of care for diseases like pseudomyxoma peritonei and peritoneal mesothelioma, and offers the best long-term results for PC from colorectal cancer. Despite these results, skepticism exists regarding this therapeutic approach partly because of its perceived high toxicity. In this article, we review the current evidence on complications that can occur after CRS and HIPEC and the risk factors associated with increased incidence of morbidity and mortality.