Surgical emergencies in the cancer patient

Abstract

Emergency care is needed in cancer patients under a variety of circumstances. These interventions can be divided into medical and surgical emergencies, and further subdivided into those related to the cancer diagnosis or cancer therapy and those unrelated to the cancer and only occurring incidentally in the cancer patient. Although it is tempting to always connect the new surgical problem to a cancer recurrence, in many instances the new problem is unrelated and the cancer diagnosis is of no consequence. Those surgical emergencies not related to a cancer diagnosis are not discussed in detail within this chapter and are covered elsewhere in this volume. Nongeneral surgical emergencies in the cancer patient are listed in Table 101.1. © 2008 Springer New York.