| [ Summary ] |
Symptoms of radiation enteritis developed in 52 of 291 patients after radiation therapy for gynecological diseases. The characteristic clinical features of radiation enteritis were gastrointestinal bleeding (40 patients), bowel obstruction (12 patients), fistula formation (12 patients) and perforation of the intestine (3 patients). Gastrointestinal bleeding developed within one year in most of the 40 affected patients. Conservative therapy based on parenteral nutrition with or without steroid-enema was effective. Radical surgical therapy for radiation enteritis was highly problematic, because postoperative anastomotic leakage was common. Palliative surgical therapy, such as decompression of the bowel with an artificial anus, was indicated for radiation enteritis. |