Complications Following High and Low Dose‐Rate Intracavitary Radiotherapy for St. I‐II Endometrial Carcinoma: A Comparison of Remotely Afterloaded CO60 (Cathetron) and Conventional Radium Therapy

Complications after low and high dose‐rate intracavitary radiotherapy for St. I‐II endometrial carcinoma associated with a small (≤9 cm) uterine cavity were analysed, and comparisons of their incidence, quality and aetiology were made. the material comprised 216 patients treated from 1970 to 1976, of whom 125 were treated with radium (R) and 91 with afterloaded Co60 (Cathetron, C). No significant difference was found in the incidence of complications between group C (14.3%) and group R (8.0%). When the single fractions in the Cathetron treatment were lowered from 10 Gy to 7.5 Gy each in 1972, the incidence of complications decreased significantly (p= 0.04) from 33.3% to 11.4%. Intestinal complications occurred more frequently than urological ones both in group C and R. Vascular disease was significantly (p=0.03) correlated with the development of complications in group R, while age, weight or previous laparotomies were not correlated with complications in either group.