Factors associated with palliative care use in patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy

Abstract Background Peritoneal carcinomatosis represents widespread metastatic disease throughout the abdomen and/or pelvis. Cytoreductive surgery/hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC) improves the overall survival compared to standard therapy alone. The role palliative care (PC) plays however, remains poorly studied among these patients. Methods Patients who had previously undergone HIPEC and who underwent an inpatient admission from 7/1/2013 to 6/30/2014 were identified to determine which patients were referred for inpatient or outpatient palliative consultation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors associated with the use of PC. Results Of the 60 patients analyzed, 23 (38.3%) had a PC consultation with a median time to PC referral of 310 d (IQR: 151-484). Patients who were prescribed opioids (no PC referral versus PC referral: 46.0% versus 91.3%, P