The Baromedical Research Foundation

HORTIS IV – Radiation Proctitis

Radiation of prostate, urological and gynecological cancers frequently places the rectum within the radiation portal. Resulting tissue injury will manifest months to years later in a not insignificant percentage of patients.

As with radiation cystitis, there are a wide array of presentations. Some will resolve spontaneously (minor hemorrhage being a common example), others will progress to a debilitating state. Symptoms include pain, bleeding, bowel dysfunction, stricture, edema, erythema, tissue friability, ulceration, necrosis and fistulae. Therapeutic approaches include topical agents, transfusions, careful diet, pain control, laser coagulation and surgical resection.

Clinical experience and clinical evidence of a beneficial role of hyperbaric oxygen is less mature than that for radiation cystitis. Case reports are generally encouraging but no prospective systematic analysis of outcomes has been reported.

HORTIS IV represents the first randomized controlled trial to investigate hyperbaric medicine’s therapeutic role at this anatomic site.

HORTIS IV – Radiation Proctitis Treatment Protocol (pdf, 912KB) Adobe Acrobat

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