NEW PROSPECTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PATIENT WITH PELVIC RADIATION DAMAGE

On February 16, the National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation hosted a conference with international participation “Radiation damage to the pelvic organs: surgical treatment and rehabilitation.” During the event, two surgical master classes were held with broadcast from the operating room, and over nine presentations were made from the country’s leading specialists.

Every year the event program becomes more intense and touches on the most pressing issues and topics. This time, the specialists focused on such topics as: features of perioperative management of patients, ways of rehabilitation and recovery of patients after extensive surgical interventions, features of surgical access, advanced possibilities of reconstructive plastic surgery.

“A few years ago, Professor Oleg Borisovich Loran, head of the Department of Urology and Surgical Andrology of the Russian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, took the initiative to organize this conference. And every year we note that the attention and interest of specialists in this event is only growing, – said Andrey Kaprin, Director General of the National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. — Leading oncologist surgeons, radiologists, chemotherapists and rehabilitation specialists from all over the country took part in master classes and lectures. And we all still have a lot of work to do. This is a very complex category of patients who need not only timely high-tech surgical care, but also, importantly, rehabilitation. Thanks to this interaction, we have the opportunity not only to exchange experience, but also, which is very important, to replicate the best practices in the regions!”

During the master classes, two exenterations of the pelvic organs were performed. This is exactly the kind of help that 44-year-old patient Maria needed, the National Medical Research Radiological Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation became her last hope. Fourteen years ago, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and underwent combined chemoradiotherapy. In subsequent years, due to the high aggressiveness of the malignant process, the disease progressed inexorably, and after a long struggle it was stopped. Unfortunately, within a year the patient began to notice urinary incontinence. After examination, she was given a disappointing diagnosis: vesicovaginal fistula.

“Entovaginal and vesicovaginal fistulas pose a mortal danger to patients. They cause sepsis and lead to pelvic abscess and multiple organ failure, which, in turn, often ends in death, comments Valery Korotkov, head of the department for the treatment of radiation injuries at the A.Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre. And our task, as the organizers of this event, is to collect the best practices and developments in the field of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of patients with radiation injuries of the pelvic organs, so that as many specialists as possible can provide assistance to such a severe cohort of patients.”