Peripheral vascular disease following radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is effective for the treatment of many malignant diseases. This fact is well documented. The existence of complications in any treatment form does not obviate its usefulness. An awareness of possible complications, however, makes our treatment program more realistic and causes us to be more aware of the patient's complaints following therapy. One of our patients complained of claudication for seven years before an arteriogram was done. How many swollen, painful arms after mastectomy and irradiation have been passed off as due to lymphedema or a complaining patient? Exertional chest pain in a young person after mediastinal irradiation should not be overlooked. These symptomatic lesions are amenable to surgical correction. Great care must be spent when incising irradiated skin areas. The use of Silastic sheeting may be useful in extreme cases of radiation fibrosis involving the ureter. While no human studies are available for documentation, based on animal studies, it may be useful to decrease lipidemic situations through dietary prudence during radiation therapy. Finally, we are reminded again that many of our therapeutic triumphs are tarnished with serious side effects.