What Researchers Did
Researchers treated an 84-year-old woman with severe bleeding from her bladder and large intestine, which developed after radiation therapy for uterine cancer, using hyperbaric oxygen therapy and prostaglandin E1.
What They Found
The patient received hyperbaric oxygen therapy at 2 ATA for 60 minutes daily over 30 days, combined with prostaglandin E1 infusion. This combined treatment completely stopped her gross haematuria (blood in urine) and tarry stool (blood in feces). Endoscopic examinations also showed a reversal of the damage caused by radiation to her bladder (cystitis) and colon (colitis).
What This Means for Canadian Patients
For Canadian patients experiencing severe bladder and bowel bleeding after pelvic radiation therapy, this case suggests that a combination of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and prostaglandin E1 could be an effective treatment option. This approach might help alleviate painful symptoms like blood in urine and stool, and potentially reverse the damage to affected tissues. It offers a potential avenue for improving quality of life for those suffering from these challenging side effects.
Canadian Relevance
This study is not Canadian, but it covers delayed radiation injury (radiation cystitis and colitis), which is a Health Canada-recognized indication for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Study Limitations
A significant limitation of this study is that it is a case report, detailing the experience of only one patient, which means the findings may not apply to everyone.