Urinary Tract Infections in Association with Radium Therapy for Gynecological Cancer

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of radium therapy on the development of urinary tract infections in patients with gynecological carcinoma. The series comprised 167 patients treated with one or more radium applications. The patients' mean age was 57 years. The treatments were given at 14‐day intervals by a modified Stockholm method. Before each radium application, a quantitative bacterial culture of the urine was carried out. The patients' urological status was observed throughout the period of treatment. About 16% had a urinary tract infection on admission. Even after the first radium treatment the number of urinary tract infections had trebled, and despite prophylactic chemotherapy it remained at the same high level until the completion of therapy. Radium therapy and the accompanying manipulations produced severe bladder irritation often associated with infection. It is obviously necessary to devote increasing attention to the occurrence of latent urinary tract infections in the treatment of patients with gynecological cancer. By so doing, unnecessary tissue irritation, hydronephrosis, and later fistula formation can be reduced.