[Curative effect of radical gastrectomy combined with peritoneal lavage with thermal hypoosmotic solution in treatment of gastric cancer].

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the curative effect and indications of radical gastrectomy combined with peritoneal lavage with thermal hypoosmotic solution, double distilled water (DDW) or DDW plus chlorhexidine acetate, in treatment of gastric cancer.

METHODS

Five hundred cases of gastric cancer who underwent radical gastrectomy from January 1986 to December 1995 were divided into three groups: group A with 198 cases who underwent radical gastrectomy and peritoneal lavage for 10 minutes with 400 ml of DDW at 43 degrees C, group B, with 89 cases who underwent radical gastrectomy and peritoneal lavage for ten minutes with 4 000 ml of DDW plus 0.6 g chlorhexidine acetate, and group C, with 213 cases who underwent radical gastrectorny and peritoneal lavage for four minutes with 4 000 ml of normal saline at normal temperature as controls.

RESULTS

The group A and group B (called lavage group as a whole) had almost the same curative effects. The one-year survival rates and three-year survival rates were similar among the cases in different stages in no matter what group. The five-year survival rate was 63.8% in the lavage group and 51.2% in the control group, most of the cases with a good effect being at the mid-stage (II and III A stages).

CONCLUSION

Peritoneal lavage, helpful in killing the exfoliated cancer cells in peritoneal cavity of patients with gastric cancer at II and III A stages, should be conducted in the treatment of gastric cancer by radical gastrectomy before closing the abdomen.