Effectiveness of multivisceral resection in surgery for gastrointestinal cancers.

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 196 patients who underwent surgery involving multivisceral resection for adenocarcinoma of the abdominal digestive tract, 101 of whom were over 70 years old. Resection or removal of a neighboring organ was justified by either tumorous involvement of the organ, oncological principles, or the surgical technique required. Thus, in addition to the primary tumorous organ, two other organs were resected or removed in 134 patients, and three or more other organs were resected or removed in 62 patients. The mortality rate was 5% in the former group, and 16% in the latter group, showing an overall mortality rate of 7.5% for the 196 multivisceral operations. Moreover, the 5-year survival rate of patients with microscopic evidence of tumorous involvement of the resected neighbouring organs was significantly lower than that of those without any evidence of involvement.