Peritonectomy to enhance adequate cytoreductive surgery in peritoneal surface malignancy: review of nomenclature and boundaries.

Background: Cytoreductive surgery is increasingly performed worldwide for a variety of primary and secondary peritoneal surface malignancies. Significant heterogeneity exists regarding the extent of peritonectomy performed in each abdominal region and the terminology used to describe the surgical procedure. The aims of this review were to summarize the literature and identify gaps where consensus is needed.

Methods: MEDLINE was systematically searched using the keywords 'cytoreductive surgery', 'technique', and 'peritonectomy'. Relevant articles in English published from 1 January 1985 to 1 November 2023 were reviewed manually. Commentaries and letters were included if they had a description of the technique or boundaries. Book chapters and books on the topic were searched and reviewed.

Results: In total, 46 manuscripts and 13 book chapters were included. Over half of the manuscripts (26 of 46 (56.5%)) and 61.5% (8 of 13) of the book chapters described some of the boundaries. None had a complete description of all the boundaries. Few publications described the subdivisions of peritonectomy procedures. There was heterogeneity in the terms used for the same peritonectomy procedure and, when a particular term was used, the extent of peritonectomy that was performed varied.

Conclusion: Heterogeneity in nomenclature and procedures performed underscores the need for a consensus, which should lead to uniformity in documentation of the extent of peritoneal resection performed.