Objective: To define the factors which might effect the results of second-look laparotomy (SLL) and the prognosis of patients with negative SLL.
Methods: Fourteen (42.4%) of the 33 patients who underwent SLL for primary epithelial ovarian cancer had residual disease (positive SLL), while 19 (57.6%) of them had no evidence of disease (negative SLL); 13 (68.4%) of the 19 patients who were followed without any intervention, still had no evidence of disease, while 6 (31.6%) of them had clinical recurrences. The age of the patients, histopathological type, stage and grade of the cancers, type of chemotherapy and the effectiveness of the cytoreductive surgery were presumed as prognosticators and were compared in each group of patients.
Results: The age of the patients, histopathological type of the carcinomas and the type of combined chemotherapy were similar in patients with negative or positive SLL and those with recurrences or no evidence of disease during the follow-up after negative SLL (p>0.05). However, the groups of patients with negative SLL and those with no evidence of disease during the follow-up period had lower grade or stage of cancers and less frequent sub-optimal cytoreduction than the groups of patients with positive SLL and those with recurrences during the follow-up, respectively (p<0.05).
Conclusion: SLL could be selectively performed in patients with high grade or high stage ovarian carcinoma or in those patients treated by sub-optimal cytoreduction.