The results of surgery to relieve intestinal obstruction in 49 patients who were known to have ovarian cancer were studied. All patients had received adjunctive chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy prior to bowel obstruction. Thirty patients had small bowel obstruction, 16 patients had colonic obstruction, and 3 patients had concurrent small and large bowel obstruction. Clinical status, nutritional parameters, and radiographic findings were analyzed. Progressive ovarian cancer was ultimately found to be the cause of obstruction in 86% of patients. Major postoperative complications occurred in 49% of patients and were encountered significantly more frequently in those patients with small bowel obstruction (P less than 0.04). Complications most frequently encountered included wound infection, enterocutaneous fistulae, and other septic sequelae. Median postoperative survival was 140 days, with 73% surviving at 60 days postoperatively. A total of 14.3% of patients were alive 12 months postoperatively. These results are similar to prior reports and emphasize the need for clearer preoperative selection criteria.