Resection of a metastatic bulky subphrenic tumor for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer using liver mobilization and the Pringle maneuver.

OBJECTIVE

Advanced ovarian cancer commonly disseminates to the diaphragm. A complete removal of a bulky diaphragmatic disease is sometimes difficult. We present the surgical technique that we used for resecting a large nodular and disseminated subphrenic tumor that occupied the subphrenic space using liver mobilization and the Pringle maneuver.

METHODS

The patient was a 78-year-old woman with FIGO IIIC left ovarian carcinosarcoma. She had a metastatic subphrenic tumor measuring 12 cm in diameter. The subphrenic tumor resection was performed as a part of cytoreductive surgery. Owing to the adherence between the right diaphragm and the liver, the diaphragm was resected in full thickness. The liver was mobilized by keeping the resected part of the diaphragm attached to the liver. The subphrenic tumor and the attached diaphragm were resected en bloc by excising the liver which was adjacent to the tumor. During the resection, the hepatoduodenal ligament was clamped with a Satinsky clamp (Pringle maneuver) to reduce blood loss from the liver. The diaphragmatic defect was closed with permanent mesh.

RESULTS

We achieved complete cytoreduction with no residual tumor without ICU admission. No severe intraoperative or postoperative complications were observed. The patient was discharged on postoperative day 22 and started adjuvant chemotherapy on postoperative day 27. The histological examination revealed the carcinosarcoma in the diaphragmatic peritoneum, although the carcinosarcoma did not infiltrate the adjacent liver.

CONCLUSION

Resection of a metastatic bulky subphrenic tumor using liver mobilization and the Pringle maneuver is a feasible technique for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer.