Why do symptoms of intestinal obstruction occur in the late stage of ovarian cancer

In the late stage of ovarian cancer, some patients may experience abdominal pain, vomiting, bloating, and difficulty passing gas and defecation, which seriously affect the quality of life of patients. Why do these symptoms appear in the late stage of ovarian cancer?

Abdominal pain, vomiting, bloating, and difficulty passing gas and defecation in the late stage of ovarian cancer are actually symptoms of intestinal obstruction, which is one of the complications of late stage ovarian cancer. Small intestinal obstruction is the most common, accounting for more than 50%, followed by large intestinal obstruction, accounting for about 2%. When the tumor invades the intestine or compresses the intestine outside, a large amount of ascites causes increased intra-abdominal pressure, intestinal adhesions after surgery, and abdominal infection, various factors can all lead to intestinal obstruction complicated by late stage ovarian cancer.

Most patients with advanced ovarian cancer who have intestinal obstruction have low general health and nutritional indicators. They cannot eat after intestinal obstruction and their nutritional support is not standardized, which causes the patients to quickly enter the stage of fluid and electrolyte imbalance and severe malnutrition, seriously affecting the prognosis of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. Therefore, patients with intestinal obstruction in advanced ovarian cancer should receive timely symptomatic treatment, combined with comprehensive treatment plans such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and cellular immunotherapy, to maximize the prognosis of patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

For patients with advanced ovarian cancer who have intestinal obstruction, surgical resection should be performed as soon as possible for those who are suitable for surgical treatment. The surgical methods include short-circuit anastomosis, intestinal stoma, and resection of the obstructed intestinal area followed by anastomosis. The purpose of surgical treatment is to relieve the obstruction in the last stage of life of patients with intestinal obstruction, enable oral feeding, improve the quality of life, and prolong survival time.