Is HIPEC Surgery Painful?
Introduction
To begin with, HIPEC is an acronym for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy. It’s a cancer treatment that involves infusing your belly with warm chemotherapy medicines. Also, you receive a single massive dosage of chemotherapy that is less harmful.
Because the chemicals aren’t put into your bloodstream, they don’t move as much throughout your body as chemotherapy given through an IV.
The chemotherapy medicines are heated to around 106-109 degrees Fahrenheit. Cancer cells cannot withstand heat in the same way that healthy cells do.
The heat also makes it easier for the medications to enter and work better in your cells. Therefore, here’s all you need to know about this surgery.
What is HIPEC surgery?
HIPEC surgery involves injecting high doses of chemotherapy into the abdomen to treat cancer that has progressed beyond the original organ. Traditional chemotherapy can be challenging to treat abdominal malignancies that have progressed to the abdominal cavity lining (peritoneum).
A more successful therapeutic option is HIPEC surgery. It is a two-step method for treating certain types of abdominal malignancies. Cancerous lesions are surgically removed, and then hot chemotherapy chemicals are injected into the abdomen to kill any residual cancerous cells.
Who needs it?
This depends on the location of your cancer and the severity of the sickness or cancer spread. Your doctor will assess whether you are fit for the surgery.
Diseases, fluid build-up, and malignancies in the abdomen can all be treated with HIPEC surgery. HIPEC is used to treat the following cancers:
- Cancer of the adrenal gland
- Cancer of the appendix
- Cancers of the colon and rectal mucosa
- Gastric cancer (stomach cancer) is a type of cancer that affects the stomach.
- Cancer of the liver
- Mesothelioma
- Ovarian cancer (affects women.)
- Pancreatic carcinoma
- Cancer of the peritoneum
Procedure
The first step involves staying in the operation room for at least 8 hours. You’ll be under general anaesthesia so that you won’t be conscious during the procedure. The surgeon will begin by removing any obvious tumors. Also, the procedure is known as cytoreductive surgery, or CRS. Further, the surgeon will fill your stomach with a heated liquid containing chemotherapy medications to target any leftover malignancy.
The HIPEC procedure is the next step. After removing all visible tumors and sick tissue from the abdomen, your surgeon will place a catheter with chemotherapy medications, which will be pushed into your abdomen. The catheters are connected to a perfusion machine, which warms the chemotherapy medications and circulates them for one to two hours through your abdomen.
Before closing the incision, your surgeon will drain the residual chemotherapy from the abdomen and clean it with a salt solution. The length of the procedure will depend on how far cancer has gone throughout the abdomen. Surgery to treat advanced-stage cancer may take longer.
Post-surgery precautions
- You’ll stay in the hospital for another 6-20 days after being released from intensive care to continue your recovery.
- You’ll spend roughly two days in critical care following surgery. Doctors and other medical professionals will examine you for signs of dehydration and test your electrolytes and blood glucose levels.
- If your blood sugar level rises too high, you’ll be given insulin to help with wound healing. Antibiotics will almost certainly be prescribed to assist you in avoiding infection. While the surgical wound heals, you’ll be given pain medication, most likely as an epidural.
- When it comes to eating, you may begin with IV nourishment, but the goal is for you to be able to eat solid foods as soon as possible. This will help you regain regular bowel function more quickly.
Is it painful?
The procedure is painless because of the sedative. On the other hand, Dwell chemotherapy may be unpleasant for patients because it is administered while they are awake. In the case of HIPEC surgery, however, patients can relax and feel at ease. HIPEC surgery could take up to 14 hours to complete.
Which doctor to consult for HIPEC?
Dr. Sanket Mehta offers comprehensive treatment for HIPEC surgery with the latest medical equipment. Expert Surgical Oncologist in Mumbai with over a decade of experience.
Conclusion
HIPEC surgery delivers high doses of chemotherapy directly to the belly, a location where regular chemotherapy treatments are ineffective. Patients with inoperable or advanced-stage cancer may benefit from this novel surgery, improving long-term outcomes and expanding treatment options.
There are fewer adverse effects in HIPEC because the high concentration of the chemotherapeutic solution cannot cross the peritoneal plasma barrier – that is, it cannot leave the treatment area.
HIPEC has been demonstrated to kill cancer cells that are too small to view with the naked eye.
HIPEC is the most effective strategy for supporting cytoreduction in the treatment of advanced intraabdominal cancer types, according to the findings of studies and therapies during the previous 20 years.
To know more about HIPEC surgery, connect with our experts now!