Background and objectives: Wide pelvic tumors need urinary and fecal diversion. We set out to assess the efficacy of the double-barreled wet colostomy (DBWC) in patients undergoing simultaneous double diversion.
Material and methods: We reviewed 56 consecutive patients submitted to surgery, divided into two groups: (1) total pelvic exenteration plus DBWC (n = 26); (2) DBWC without simultaneous pelvic resection (n = 30). Pelvic tumor recurrences accounted for most patients (n = 53), whereas the remaining three patients suffered from actinic pelvic complications.
Results: Surgical morbidity and mortality rates were 53.8% (14/26) and 11.5% (3/26) in Group 1, and 43.5% (13/30) and 3.3% (1/30) in Group 2, respectively. Only 2 patients out of 51 (3.9%) developed late postoperative urinary tract infection. Regression of the hydronephrosis was observed in 28 out of 33 assessable patients. Median survival in Groups 1 and 2 was 8.36 and 4.14 months, respectively. In the subgroup of patients submitted to curative surgery (n = 24), actuarial cancer-specific survival rate in 2 years was 58.78%.
Conclusion: DBWC is a safe and efficient alternative for simultaneous urinary and fecal diversion, with low morbidity and mortality rates, improvement of renal insufficiency, and low risk of postoperative urinary tract infection.