Sometimes it is possible or necessary to provide relief for cancer caused nausea and vomiting through palliative surgical intervention. Surgery is however not routinely carried out when there are poor prognostic criteria for surgical intervention such as intra-abdominal carcinomatosis, poor performance status and massive ascites.[7] The surgical approach proves beneficial in affected people with operable lesions, a life expectancy greater than 2 months and good performance status.[11] Often a malignant bowel obstruction is the cause of the symptoms in which case the purpose of palliative surgery is to relieve the symptoms of bowel obstruction by means of several procedures including: