Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2019; 25(13): 1618-1627
Published online Apr 7, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i13.1618
Efficacy and complications of argon plasma coagulation for hemorrhagic chronic radiation proctitis
Qing-Hua Zhong, Zhan-Zhen Liu, Zi-Xu Yuan, Teng-Hui Ma, Xiao-Yan Huang, Huai-Ming Wang, Dai-Ci Chen, Jian-Ping Wang, Lei Wang
Qing-Hua Zhong, Zhan-Zhen Liu, Zi-Xu Yuan, Teng-Hui Ma, Xiao-Yan Huang, Huai-Ming Wang, Dai-Ci Chen, Jian-Ping Wang, Lei Wang, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Diseases, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510655, Guangdong Province, China
Qing-Hua Zhong, Zhan-Zhen Liu, Zi-Xu Yuan, Teng-Hui Ma, Huai-Ming Wang, Jian-Ping Wang, Lei Wang, Department of Colorectal Surgery, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510655, Guangdong Province, China
Xiao-Yan Huang, Dai-Ci Chen, Jian-Ping Wang, Lei Wang, Guangdong Institute of Gastroenterology, Guangzhou 510655, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Zhong QH designed the study, collected and analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript; Liu ZZ helped in collecting and analyzing the data; Yuan ZZ helped in collecting the data and drafting the manuscript; Ma TH helped in analyzing the data; Huang XY helped in collecting and analyzing the data; Wang HM helped in drafting the manuscript; Chen DC helped in designing the study and analyzing the data; Wang JP helped in designing the study and supervised the study; Wang L designed and supervised the study and revised the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 81573078; and the National Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province, No. 2016A030311021.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent for this study was waived due to its retrospective nature. Patients agreed to undergo treatment by written consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lei Wang, MD, PhD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Department of Colorectal Surgery, the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, 26 Yuancunerheng Road, Guangzhou 510655, Guangdong Province, China. wangl9@mail.sysu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-20-38254052 Fax: +86-20-38254159
Received: January 28, 2019
Peer-review started: January 28, 2019
First decision: February 13, 2019
Revised: February 20, 2019
Accepted: February 22, 2019
Article in press: February 23, 2019
Published online: April 7, 2019
Core Tip

Core tip: Argon plasma coagulation (APC) is currently recommended as the first-choice treatment for hemorrhagic chronic radiation proctitis, however, its indication based on long-term follow-up is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to review APC’s long-term efficacy and safety. Forty-five patients with a median follow-up period of 24 mo were enrolled. Successful treatment was achieved in 31 (68.9%) patients. APC failure was independently associated with telangiectasias present on > 50% of the surface area and ulceration > 1 cm2. Six (13.3%) patients experienced severe complications involving rectal fistulation. The only factor significantly associated with severe complications was ulceration > 1 cm2.