SURGICAL TREATMENT OF RADIATION-ASSOSIATED SMALL BOWEL STRICTURES: CASE REPORT

Abstract

Damage of the small intestine by ionizing radiation during radiation therapy of oncogynecological pathology is quite common, it can develop in 16% of such patients. Radiationinduced inflammation leads to fibrosis of the intestinal wall and to the formation of scar stricture. The key to successful treatment of such patients is the earliest possible diagnosis of persistent narrowing of the lumen of the small bowel and the earliest possible operation. Unfortunately, nowadays, the diagnosis of small bowel strictures is a problem, due to the lack of available methods of instrumental diagnosis. There is also a complete lack of methods that can detect the degree of fibrosis in the stricture. The article presents two case reports of the diagnosis and surgical treatment of postradiation small bowel strictures that were formed by accidental damage during radiation therapy for cervical cancer in 2020. There is also a modern review of the literature devoted to the pathogenesis of the formation of narrowing of the intestinal lumen after exposure to ionizing radiation, the problem of diagnosis and treatment of this pathology.