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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Journal of Coloproctology 2022; 42(03): 259-265
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1750075
Review Article

Argon Plasma Coagulation in Radiation-induced Proctitis

Fernanda Machado de Araujo Góes 
1   Bahia School of Medicine and Public Health, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
,
Rebeca Sadigursky Ribeiro 
1   Bahia School of Medicine and Public Health, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
,
Matheus Mascarenhas Portugal 
1   Bahia School of Medicine and Public Health, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
,
Glicia Estevam de Abreu 
1   Bahia School of Medicine and Public Health, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
› Author Affiliations Funding The authors declare that they have received no funding regarding the performance of the present study.
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Abstract

Background Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is a non-tactile ablative therapy that helps to stop rectal bleeding in patients who have developed actinic proctitis after exposure to radiotherapy. This approach seems to be more effective than medications or surgical procedures.

Objective To review the literature to verify the effectiveness of APC in the treatment of patients with actinic proctitis induced by radiation therapies.

Methods A systematic search was conducted on the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, LILACS, SCIELO, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We identified 81 studies, and 5 of them fulfilled the inclusion criteria.

Results In the articles included, a total of 236 patients were evaluated. Most of them were men (67.7%) with a mean age of 66.6 years. Prostate cancer was the main cause of actinic proctitis (67.3%), and control of the bleeding was achieved in 83.3% of the cases, after a mean of 1.67 session of APC. Moreover, 66 patients had complications with the treatment, and rectal pain was the most referred.

Conclusions Argon plasma coagulation is a well-tolerated and effective treatment to control rectal bleeding in patients who underwent radiotherapy, and the number of sessions varies from 1 to 2, according to the case.

Keywords

proctitis - radiotherapy - argon plasma coagulation - bleeding


Publication History

Received: 20 July 2021

Accepted: 06 May 2022

Article published online:
27 June 2022

© 2022. Sociedade Brasileira de Coloproctologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commecial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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