Surgical outcomes of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST)Background: Despite that current knowledge regarding the pathology and treatment of Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST) is widely available; most patients in the developing world and mainly in rural areas of developing countries have limited access to diagnostic technology and modern specifi c therapy such as imatinib. Objective: To review the management and outcomes of GISTs treated at the hospitals of the IV Region of Chile. Patients and Methods: This retrospective, observational and descriptive study was performed with data obtained from the medical records of 3 community hospitals were all surgical practice of the IV Region is performed. During the study period, 24 consecutive patients with GISTs at different localizations of the gastrointestinal tract were treated. Results: Five patients were operated on with the preoperative diagnostic of GIST, in 19 patients the diagnostic of GIST was suspected during the operation and confi rmed by histology and immunohistochemistry. Most patients were operated on emergency grounds. Of 10 patients requiring imatinib therapy, only 2 are currently receiving the medication sponsored by an international foundation. Conclusions: There were no disparities in the standard surgical care of our patients. The main differences with published series from Chile and developed countries are the available technology to perform a preoperative diagnosis and the availability of imatinib for the treatment of metastatic and recurrent disease.