title: [Digestive lesions caused by radiotherapy after surgery (author's transl)].
abstract: Between 1968 and 1972, 33 patients with carcinoma of the colon or the rectum underwent a radical surgical procedure followed by adjuvant irradiation therapy. One month after surgery, 6,000 rads were delivered in 6 to 7 weeks. Five of these patients presented later a radiotherapy ileitis, colitis or rectitis. One of them developed a rectitis of the anastomotic area with important diarrheas treated by drugs only; a second presented bowel subobstructions induced by a radiotherapy ileitis and died in cachexy a few months later. The 3 other patients underwent surgery again; one of them for adhesions in the anastomotic area: a definite left colostomy was realized for a stenosic rectitis in the second patient; the last patient underwent surgery 4 times again and died from a rupture of the iliaca artery. Discussion on the observations made at surgery and on the surgical pathology data could explain the high rate of these iatrogenic lesions induced by radiotherapy.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003092:Colitis / Q000209:etiology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007079:Ileitis / Q000209:etiology; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011349:Proctitis / Q000209:etiology; D011832:Radiation Injuries; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*
vernacular_title: Lésions digestives occasionnées par un traitement radiothérapique adjuvant à la chirurgie.