Abstract
ABSTRACTPurpose To examine the safety and efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen as the primary and sole treatment for severe radiation-induced haemorrhagic cystitis.Materials and methods Hyperbaric oxygen was prospectively applied as primary treatment in 38 patients with severe radiation cystitis. Our primary endpoint was the incidence of complete and partial response to treatment, while the secondary endpoints included the duration of response, the correlation of treatment success-rate to the interval between the onset of haematuria and initiation of therapy, blood transfusion need and total radiation dose, the number of sessions to success, the avoidance of surgery and the overall survival.Results All patients completed therapy without complications with a mean follow-up of 29.33 months. Median number of sessions needed was 33. Complete and partial response rate was 86.8% and 13.2%, respectively. All 33 patients with complete response received therapy within 6 months of the haematuria onset. One patient needed cystectomy, while 33 patients were alive at the end of follow-up.Conclusions Our study suggests the early primary use of hyperbaric oxygen for radiation-induced severe cystitis as an effective and safe treatment option.
Highlights
The use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) as a treatment modality of radiation-induced lesions is not new, while about a decade ago the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and the European Committee for Hyberbaric Medicine underlined the indications of HBO in the treatment of radio-induced manifestations in normal tissue [1], including the prevention of osteoradionecrosis after dental extraction, the treatment of mandibular osteoradionecrosis in combination with surgery and the treatment of haemorrhagic cystitis resistant to conventional treatments
There are several studies published on HBO therapy for radiation cystitis, but most of them have discrepancies regarding their design and methodology since they are retrospective and not randomized or comparative; they lack control group and HBO is used as a secondary treatment
All patients enrolled suffered from severe haemorrhagic cystitis with haematuria requiring transfusion
Summary
The use of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) as a treatment modality of radiation-induced lesions is not new, while about a decade ago the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology and the European Committee for Hyberbaric Medicine underlined the indications of HBO in the treatment of radio-induced manifestations in normal tissue [1], including the prevention of osteoradionecrosis after dental extraction, the treatment of mandibular osteoradionecrosis in combination with surgery and the treatment of haemorrhagic cystitis resistant to conventional treatments. There are several studies published on HBO therapy for radiation cystitis, but most of them have discrepancies regarding their design and methodology since they are retrospective and not randomized or comparative; they lack control group and HBO is used as a secondary treatment. Our present study includes the first and sole prospective series on HBO therapy of severe radiation cystitis in patients who have not received any previous treatment. Ibju | Hyperbaric oxygen for severe radiation cystitis
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
