Abstract

SOLORZANO, Lorimar; GUZMAN, Juan Antonio; ARISMENDI, Nathali  and  BRITO, Eunice. Acute dermatologic reactions in patients treated with external radiation therapy. Saber [online]. 2015, vol.27, n.2, pp.253-258. ISSN 1315-0162.

Radiotherapy is a type of treatment that does not guarantee the integrity of normal tissues, especially skin tissue, causing inevitable cellular changes. Due to this, radiodermatitis can be a significant clinical problem in any population subjected to radiotherapy. This study describes the frequency of dermatological reactions caused by radiation and the different risk factors such as age; nutritional state; smoking history; comorbidities; location, type, and stage of cancer; anticancer treatment undergone; and use of additional antineoplastic treatments, in a cohort of patients treated at the oncological unit Kleber Ramírez Rojas in Barcelona, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela. The study included first-time patients who attended the external radiotherapy unit, all of which had weekly follow-ups to monitor the area exposed to radiation. Based on the RTOG/EORTC scale, there was a high incidence of 4thdegree dermatological reactions to radiation (11.8%) and a low incidence of 1st-degree (17.6%) and 2nd-degree (11.8%) reactions. In total, there was a 43.1% incidence of radiodermatitis among patients. The average cumulative dosage for the onset of dermatitis was 3,002.73 cGy, in an average of 15.86 radiotherapy sessions. Several factors were found to be related to the incidence of dermatological reactions: a body mass index higher than 25 kg/m2 (p = 0.005) and the location of tumors in areas such as the neck and thorax (p = 0.026).

Keywords : Radiodermatitis; acute dermatitis; adverse reactions; oncology.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )