Objective: To evaluate outcomes of palliative surgery for malignant bowel obstruction (MBO) and identify factors associated with postoperative survival. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 27 patients who underwent palliative surgery for MBO between April 2014 and March 2023. Clinical data including symptom relief, oral intake, discharge status, and overall survival (OS) were analyzed. Results: Median age was 70 years; 23 patients were Stage IV. Primary tumors included colon-rectum (15), stomach (6), pancreas (2), and others (4). Peritoneal dissemination was present in 18 cases. Median preoperative Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) was 3.0. Postoperative symptom relief was achieved in 96.3%, oral intake in 81.5%, and discharge in 51.9%. Median OS was 118 days. Peritoneal dissemination and oral intake status were significantly associated with OS; sex, age, and PPI were not. Conclusion: Palliative surgery may improve outcomes such as symptom relief, oral intake, discharge to preferred care settings, and survival. These findings support its role in advance care planning and enhancing quality of life in patients with terminal cancer.

Recovery of reduced physical strength is important for quality of life after surgery, especially in aged patients. In this report, we demonstrated the effect of Ninjin-youei-to (NIN) on prostatauxe after surgery, and also studied clinical effects of NIN by a traditional Chinese method to assess the patients.
Following this method, patients were classified as belonging to one of three groups (Sho) such as Kyo-sho (condition of deficiency, n=8) and Jitsu-sho (condition of excess, n=15). Patients were judged by the original score to determine the type of Sho. The score value was low in patients with Kyo-sho and high with Jitsu-sho. Total recovery rate from disorders was 70.6% after NIN-treatment, and the value of patients with Jitsu-sho was significantly higher than that of patients with Kyo-sho (P=0.049). The mid-value of scores after NIN-treatment was higher than the value at the start (P=0.002), particularly in the group of patients with Kyo-sho (P=0.039).
Additionally, the score to determine the type of Sho became higher after NIN-treatment in patients with improved scores for skin condition and sweat volume. These results indicate that NIN will be useful for patients with Kyo-sho who suffer from systemic wasting diseases.