ABSTRACT
Radiation therapy is an important means of control in patients with carcinoma of the cervix, uterus, prostate, testicles, bladder, and rectum. However, its role in the treatment of ovarian carcinoma has diminished over the past 20 years (1), but its role in the treatment of rectal carcinoma is strong (2-4). The injurious effects of X-rays on normal intestine were noted only two years after Roentgen’s discovery of X-rays, when Walsh (5) described the case of a coworker who developed bowel dysfunction while exposed to X-rays. The man’s symptoms cleared when he was kept from further exposure. Since that time, much has been written about the pathology and clinical symptomatology of radiation injury to individual organ systems. Some of the most serious injuries occur in the gastrointestinal tract, with damage to the small bowel, colon, and rectum. Despite improved technology and a better understanding of the effects of radiation on normal tissues, radiation injury is still a formidable problem. Many patients who are cured of carcinoma still suffer considerable morbidity and occasional mortality from the radiation itself.
