Acta oncologica
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Review Case Reports
Abdominal surgery in patients with midgut carcinoid tumors.
In patients with midgut carcinoid tumors a curative, radical tumor removal should be attempted when possible. As these tumors are generally malignant, irrespective of size, the radical surgery implies that intestinal resection for excision of a primary tumor should be combined with an extended mesenteric resection. When the patients present with the carcinoid syndrome the disease is, with few exceptions, too advanced for curative surgery. ⋯ Patients with more extensive disease may thus benefit from surgical debulking of large mesenteric or hepatic metastases. Moreover, when the patients present with abdominal symptoms it is important to exclude a threatening major abdominal complication, such as intestinal obstruction or ischemia. As these complications may cause malnutrition and deterioration, it is important to treat them properly, sometimes by repeated surgery.