Aim: To test the hypothesis whether the administration of cytostatic drugs close to surgery in children with malignancies influences the rate of postoperative complications.
Method: Included in the study were 27 children with malignancies and a control group of 27 neurologically impaired children. All the children had nutritional problems and underwent a video-assisted gastrostomy (VAG) operation during the period 1997-2002. The children were postoperatively followed up. All complications were documented according to a protocol by a specially trained nurse and correlated to the time elapsed from completion of the last preoperative or the first postoperative cytostatic drug treatment. The complications in the two groups were compared.
Results: The children with malignant diseases did not have more postoperative complications of the VAG than those having neurological defects. There was no correlation to complications regarding timing of the operation and administration of cytostatic drugs.
Conclusion: This study revealed no aggravated influence of cytostatic drug treatment on early postoperative problems of VAG. The timing of cytostatic drug administration in relation to the surgical intervention did not influence the frequency of postoperative complications.