Introduction.

Peritoneal metastases represent an advanced stage of many intra-abdominal neoplasms and often give an ominous prognosis. Recently, the only therapeutic option for this setting was palliative chemotherapy. However, most tumors metastatic to the peritoneum remain relatively resistant to intravenously administered cytotoxic and cytostatic drugs and, in general, to individual therapies.

Methods.

A literature search was performed in PubMed, SciELO and Google Scholar databases using the keywords: laparoscopy, peritoneal carcinomatosis, staging, cytoreduction. The most relevant articles published in English and Spanish were included in the review.

Discussion.

Cytoreductive surgery associated with intraperitoneal hyperthermic chemotherapy techniques is currently offered to patients with precise indications according to the underlying primary. It is here where staging laparoscopy performed in a complete and correct manner plays a determining role, since it has proven to be a reliable method for approximating peritoneal involvement.

Conclusion.

All surgical specialists, especially general surgeons, should be familiar with how to perform a complete staging laparoscopy, leading to a correct approach of the degree of peritoneal involvement and contributing to the integral oncologic management of the patient.

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