What are the symptoms of late-stage ovarian cancer complications?

Women with advanced ovarian cancer will experience various infections, fevers, ovarian pain, etc. to varying degrees. It is a very malignant gynecological tumor with a high mortality rate. It brings great psychological barriers to female friends and is prone to cancer cell metastasis, spread and other complications. So what are the complications of advanced ovarian cancer?

Complications of advanced ovarian cancer include:

1. Intestinal obstruction is the most common complication of advanced ovarian cancer, with an incidence rate of about 15% to 35%. The later the stage, the higher the incidence rate. Among them, small intestinal obstruction is the most common, accounting for more than 50%, followed by large intestinal obstruction at about 2%, and pyloric obstruction of the stomach is the least common. Various factors, such as invasion of the intestine by the tumor or extraintestinal compression, increased intra-abdominal pressure caused by a large amount of ascites, postoperative intestinal adhesions and abdominal infection, can all lead to intestinal obstruction complicated by advanced ovarian cancer. Common manifestations of intestinal obstruction include abdominal pain, vomiting, abdominal distension, and difficulty passing gas and defecation, but the specific symptoms depend on the location and degree of obstruction.

2. Infection and fever are also complications of late-stage ovarian cancer. In late-stage cases, nutritional disorders, immunosuppression, intestinal obstruction, ascites and other factors make infection more likely to occur. Since most patients have undergone surgery and combined chemotherapy in the late stage of the disease, the chance of infection is higher. The incidence of postoperative infection, especially infection after intestinal surgery, can reach 14.4%, but adequate preoperative intestinal preparation and nutritional support can reduce the infection rate.

3. Almost all complications of advanced ovarian cancer cause varying degrees of pain. The mechanisms include widespread spread of ovarian cancer, large amounts of ascites causing increased intra-abdominal pressure, rapid tumor growth causing necrosis and bleeding or concomitant infection, combined with intestinal adhesions, intestinal obstruction, retroperitoneal metastasis compressing or invading nerves, etc. Pain is the most distressing symptom of advanced ovarian cancer before death. There are many ways to relieve pain, but it is best to do a detailed examination before treatment to find out the cause of the pain so that you can treat it accordingly.

4. Acute renal failure caused by renal metastasis of ovarian cancer is rare. However, due to the large amount of ascites, ureteral obstruction, hydronephrosis and nephrotoxicity caused by high-dose cisplatin in advanced cases, the chance of secondary acute renal failure increases, and the estimated incidence during chemotherapy is about 3.4%.