Total Pelvic Exenteration

expanded in the last years. Published data has demonstrated the feasibility and safety of this technique for several several gynecologic oncology procedures. Main advantages when compared to open approach are less blood loss, decreased morbidity, shorter hospital stay, and earlier recovery. Tumor dissemination and port site implantation have been described for patients undergoing operative laparoscopy for resection of various carcinomas. However, rate of port-site metastasis after laparoscopic approach for cervical cancer is reported to be less than 1% (1) Total pelvic exenteration is one of the most mutilating surgical procedures performed for pelvic malignancies. Since it was first reported in the 50 ́s, postoperative mortality and long-term survival have improved but associated complications occur in approximately half of the patients. New surgical strategies have to be made to decrease morbidity and improve patients’ quality of life (2). Laparoscopic approach for pelvic exenteration was first described in 2003 and since then, several series have reported on technical feasibility of the procedure (3).