CLINICAL PATHWAY FOR PERITONEAL CARCINOMATOSIS FROM COLON AND RECTAL-CANCER - GUIDELINES FOR CURRENT PRACTICE

Peritoneal carcinomatosis from colon and rectal cancer was in the past a terminal condition without curative treatment options. Recently, an aggressive treatment strategy has resulted in long-term survival in a select group of patients with this condition. The sequence of diagnos tic tests and treatments for these patients are presented in a chronol ogical order as a clinical pathway. This exposition is to provide a st andardized management plan that will allow critical evaluation of the morbidity, mortality, outcomes and cost of this protracted plan of pat ient care. The discipline that the clinical pathway process demands ma y facilitate the continued optimization of this treatment strategy.