Cytoreductive surgery is accepted as a major treatment of primary ovarian cancer. The role in recurrent ovarian cancer remains a field of discussion and controversy, mainly owing to missing data from prospective randomized trials and lack of universal definitions. Retrospective data indicate that complete resection of recurrent tumor formations should be aimed for, since survival prolongation is mainly seen for patients with no residual disease. Thus, it is most important to find predictors of complete resection, on the one hand to offer the best therapeutic chances to patients, but on the other hand to protect patients with limited life expectancy from additional surgical burden. The first prospective surgical trial in recurrent ovarian cancer, AGO-DESKTOP II validated a score ('AGO score') for complete resection. It was shown that patients with a good general condition (ECOG 0), no residual disease after surgery for primary ovarian cancer and absence of ascites in presurgical diagnostics have a 76% likelihood of undergoing complete resection. In this article, further recent data regarding surgery for recurrent ovarian cancer are going to be discussed and the advantages of incorporating these patients into randomized trials are highlighted.