[Analysis on operational safety of chronic radiation intestinal injury]

Objective: To investigate the safety and efficacy of surgical treatment for chronic radiation intestinal injury. Methods: A descriptive cohort study was performed. Clinical data of 73 patients with definite radiation history and diagnosed clinically as chronic radiation intestinal injury, undergoing operation at Department of Colorectal Surgery, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from January 1, 2012 to February 28, 2019, were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively. Patients did not undergo operation or only received adhesiolysis were excluded. All the patients had preoperative examination and overall evaluation of the disease. According to severity of intestinal obstruction and patients' diet, corresponding nutritional support and conservative treatment were given. Surgical methods: The one-stage bowel resection and anastomosis was the first choice for surgical treatment of chronic radiation intestinal injury. Patients with poor nutritional condition were given enterostomy and postoperative enteral nutrition and second-stage stoma closure and intestinal anastomosis if nutritional condition improved. For those who were unable to perform stoma closure, a permanent stoma should be performed. Patients with severe abdominal adhesion which was difficult to separate, enterostomy or bypass surgery after adhesiolysis would be the surgical choice. For patients with tumor metastasis or recurrence, enterostomy or bypass surgery should be selected. Observation parameters: the overall and major (Clavien-Dindo grades III to V) postoperative complication within 30 days after surgery or during hospitalization; mortality within postoperative 30 days; postoperative hospital stay; time to postoperative recovery of enteral nutrition; time to removal of drainage tube. Results: Of the 73 patients who had been enrolled in this study, 10 were male and 63 were female with median age of 54 (range, 34-80) years. Preoperative evaluation showed that 61 patients had intestinal stenosis, 63 had intestinal obstruction, 11 had intestinal perforation, 20 had intestinal fistula, 3 had intestinal bleeding, and 6 had abdominal abscess, of whom 64(87.7%) patients had multiple complications. Tumor recurrence or metastasis was found in 15 patients. A total of 65(89.0%) patients received preoperative nutritional support, of whom 35 received total parenteral nutrition and 30 received partial parenteral nutrition. The median preoperative nutritional support duration was 8.5 (range, 6.0-16.2) days. The rate of one-stage intestine resection was 69.9% (51/73), and one-stage enterostomy was 23.3% (17/73). In the 51 patients undergoing bowel resection, the average length of resected bowel was (50.3±49.1) cm. Among the 45 patients with intestinal anastomosis, 4 underwent manual anastomosis and 41 underwent stapled anastomosis; 36 underwent side-to-side anastomosis, 5 underwent end-to-side anastomosis, and 4 underwent end-to-end anastomosis. Eighty postoperative complications occurred in 39 patients and the overall postoperative complication rate was 53.4% (39/73), including 39 moderate to severe complications (Clavien-Dindo grade III-V) in 20 patients (27.4%, 20/73) and postoperative anastomotic leakage in 2 patients (2.7%, 2/73). The mortality within postoperative 30 days was 2.7% (2/73); both patients died of abdominal infection, septic shock, and multiple organ failure caused by anastomotic leakage. The median postoperative hospital stay was 13 (11, 23) days, the postoperative enteral nutrition time was (7.2±6.9) days and the postoperative drainage tube removal time was (6.3±4.2) days. Conclusions: Surgical treatment, especially one-stage anastomosis, is safe and feasible for chronic radiation intestine injury. Defining the extent of bowel resection, rational selection of the anatomic position of the anastomosis and perioperative nutritional support treatment are the key to reduce postoperative complications.