In Hong Kong, the number of colon cancer patients has increased over the years. But at the same time, early detection of colon cancer has also become more readily available due to the recent technological advancement and increased accessibility to medical care. In recent years, more patients have become eligible for having curative sphincter saving operation and one of the objectives of this operation is to preserve continence function without stoma formation. However, colon cancer patients’ journeys do not finish after their operation. For instance, they may have bowel disorder after the operation, namely ‘Anterior Resection Syndrome’. This debilitating condition may not be amenable by surgical technique or medical therapy and it affects the bio-psycho-social wellbeing of the patient. One of the responsibilities of nurses is to promote the general wellbeing of the clients. Therefore, in this study, the possible methods of alleviating the condition of Anterior Resection Syndrome among colon cancer patients were inspected. By using strategic search of current evidences, this study found that several primary studies support the use of biofeedback to alleviate the condition. After conducting a comprehensive review of the selected studies, the biofeedback treatment was considered as an appropriate recommendation for the current clinical setting. After assessing the implementation potential of the current practice, an evidence-based protocol with considerations of local factors was established. In addition, in order to minimize resistance on the change of current practice, plans on communicating with stakeholders, pilot study and evaluation were carefully established. The purpose of this study is to provide professional nursing care by using evidence based practice for those in need. / published_or_final_version / Nursing Studies / Master / Master of Nursing

Colorectal cancer is one of the commonest malignancies worldwide. Its prevention, diagnosis and treatments have attracted multidisciplinary attention. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment for colorectal cancer. It was estimated that up to 85% of colorectal cancer were amenable to surgical treatment, whether curative or palliative. Not surprisingly laparoscopic resection of colorectal cancer was reported soon after cholecystectomy. However, with the appearance of early port site recurrence, most authorities were concerned about the adequacy of tumour clearance and the long-term survival after laparoscopic resection. / In this thesis, comparative and randomized studies were conducted to answer the above questions. It was concluded that, as compared to conventional open surgery, laparoscopic assisted resection of recto-sigmoid carcinoma was less painful and allowed earlier post-operative recovery. Tissue trauma, as reflected by systemic cytokines response, was less after laparoscopic assisted resection. Some cellular components of immune system were also less suppressed. Most importantly, laparoscopic resection did not jeopardize the survival and disease control of patients. The justification of adopting laparoscopic technique would depend on the societal value of its effectiveness in improving the short-term post-operative outcomes. / Laparoscopic technology and its application may be the biggest advancement in nearly all surgical specialties in the last decade. Since the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, enthusiastic surgeons have attempted laparoscopic approach in almost every type of operations, and many of the techniques have gained public acceptance within a very short time. However, most of these developments were not based on good scientific evidence from comparative study. While laparoscopic cholecystectomy was shown to cause less pain and allow patients to recover earlier after operation, these benefits may or may not be conferred to other procedures and diseases. / Therefore, to justify the use of laparoscopic assisted colorectal resection for carcinoma, two criteria must be satisfied. Firstly the long term survival and the disease free interval of patients should not be adversely affected, as these are the most important endpoints in the success of tumour surgery. Secondly, the proposed benefits of minimally invasive surgery must be demonstrated, otherwise it is not worthwhile to adopt a new technique. / Leung Ka Lau. / "July 2005." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: B, page: 0174. / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-155). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307.

In the past, patients with peritoneal surface malignancy were considered incurable and were only offered palliative treatments. However, in a substantial number of patients, disease progression that is isolated to peritoneum may occur. It has been realised that elimination of peritoneal surface tumours may have an impact on the survival of these cancer patients, in whom a prominent cause of death is peritoneal carcinomatosis. The focus of this PhD. thesis is on the combined treatment of cytoreductive surgery and perioperative intrapersonal chemotherapy for diffuse malignant peritoneal mesothelioma, pseudomyxoma peritonei, colorectal peritoneal carcinomatosis and resectable gastric cancer. Section one describes the major principles of management for peritoneal surface malignancy, covering the historical perspectives, the treatment rationales and the learning curve associated with the combined procedure. Section two is devoted to peritoneal mesothelioma, in trying to examine this disease from its clinical, radiologic and histopathologic aspects. A radiologic classification and a histopathologic staging system for this disease are proposed. In section three, the results of the combined treatment for pseudomyxoma peritonei are presented, including a systematic review of the literature, a case series of 50 patients from our Australian centre and a treatment failure analysis of 402 patients from the Washington Cancer Institute. These studies suggest that a disease-free state is important for long-term survival for patients with pseudomyxoma peritonei. In section four, the current evidence on the combined treatment for colorectaI peritoneal carcinomatosis is demonstrated by conducting a systematic review of the literature and survival and perioperative outcome analyses of two separate patient cohorts. These results suggest that the combined treatment is associated with an improved survival, as compared with historical controls. In the last section, a metaanalysis of the randomised controlled trials on adjuvant intraperitoneal chemotherapy for resectable gastric cancer shows that a significant improvement in survival is associated with hyperthermic intraoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy alone or in combination with early postoperative intraperitoneal chemotherapy.