Severe prolonged gastroparesis after cytoreductive surgery in an advanced ovarian cancer patient

Abstract

Number and type of complications after ovarian cancer surgery can vary greatly according to both the patient's characteristics, and the extension and type of surgery. Current literature lacks in mentioning specific gastrointestinal side effects, which could be evidenced during the early postoperative course of patients submitted to major gynecological oncologic surgery. A severe gastroparesis prolonged for 2 months after cytoreductive surgery in an advanced ovarian cancer patient was successfully treated with conservative multidrug therapy. Gastroparesis has to be enumerated as a rare but possible event after major gynecological oncologic surgery. A conservative management involving decompressive nasogastric tube, nutritional support, antiemetic drugs, prokinetic drugs is suggested, while surgical therapy is only recommended in a very small subset of unmanageable patients.