Cytoreduction is a major operation performed under general anesthesia.
Average operative time (including perfusion) is 8-10 hours.
After the operation, all patients are admitted to the intensive care unit for 2-5 days.
Average hospital stay is 3-4 weeks.

 The technique is a two-step process:

Surgically removing any visible tumor or cancer, and then
Delivering heated chemotherapy drugs to the affected area.

During the second phase of treatment a heated chemotherapy solution is circulated in the abdominal cavity to treat any cancer cells that may remain. The combination of heat and chemotherapy is believed to be more effective than standard chemotherapy treatment for certain patients because it can access and kill more cancer cells than can be found with the naked eye.