Shai Friedland
Publication Details
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Absence of ischemia in telangiectasias of chronic radiation proctopathy.
Endoscopy. 2006; (5): 488-92
It has been postulated that chronic radiation proctopathy, clinically manifested by hematochezia and by the appearance of multiple telangiectasias, is caused by ischemia. This theory is based on reports that appeared in the 1980s which described obliterative endarteritis in patients with chronic radiation-induced ulcers. However, bleeding from radiation proctopathy is typically successfully treated endoscopically by widespread tissue coagulation, and the complications that would be expected to occur if the tissue was ischemic, such as poor wound healing, generally do not arise. We therefore hypothesized that the ischemia theory is incorrect and that rectal capillary oxygen saturation is normal in patients with telangiectasias of chronic radiation proctopathy.
