Short and long term response to argon plasma therapy for hemorrhagic radiation proctitis.

INTRODUCTION

hemorrhagic radiation proctitis appears secondary to radiotherapy. Argon plasma is an effective, safe and easy-to-use technique with a relatively low cost.

OBJECTIVES

to describe the short- and long-term response to argon plasma therapy in patients with hemorrhagic radiation proctitis.

METHOD: an observational prospective study was performed of a series of 82 patients with hemorrhagic radiation proctitis, attended at the National Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery between 2010 and 2016. Summary measurements and a comparison of means (paired Student's t-test) for the final and initial hemoglobin levels were used. In addition, the Kaplan-Meier method was used to determine the rectal bleeding recurrence free time.

RESULTS

in the present study, 54.9% of cases required 1-3 argon sessions and 86.6% required 1-5 sessions to resolve the bleeding, with a median of 3.0 sessions. In addition, 4.9% of patients had proctalgia as a complication. There was an improvement in hemoglobin of 2 g/dl. Rectal bleeding recurrence occurred in 8.5% of the patients during the nine months after therapy. Bleeding recurrence free time at three, six and nine months was 98.8%, 96.3% and 91.5%, respectively. Short-term therapy response was observed in all patients and long-term response after one year of follow-up was 91.5%.

CONCLUSION

argon plasma coagulation shows a good short- and long-term response with few therapy sessions and a low rate of complications in patients with chronic hemorrhagic radiation proctitis.