Perforation of a Gastric Ulcer Following Intensive Radiation Therapy

Abstract

RADIATION injury of the normal gastrointestinal tract depends upon individual susceptibility as well as the dose to which the subject is exposed. Reports of lesions of the lower intestine after intensive pelvic x-ray and radium treatments are not uncommon,¹ since such therapeutic methods are frequently employed in the management of tumors of the female generative organs. Because x-ray beams are rarely concentrated on the epigastric area, serious ulceration of the stomach is seldom encountered. But Bowers and Brick² and Hamilton³ have called attention to the potential intractability of the radiation-induced ulcer of the stomach when that organ is within the . . .