Radiation treatment for refractory endometriosis: a 38-year-old female presenting with vaginal bleeding

Abstract

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Hemostatic Pelvic Irradiation: A Rarely Reported Approach to Benign Gynecological Bleeding

“…The case presented here demonstrates the potential benefit of ovarian irradiation in the management of uncontrolled hemorrhage in a patient with multiple benign gynecological pathologies. While radiation therapy has been used for the treatment of benign diseases such as proliferative and inflammatory disorders, its role in the control of hemorrhage is not well established in the literature [2,3]. Ovarian irradiation is based on the hypersensitivity of ovarian tissue to radiotherapy, which suppresses hormone production and has been used in the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancer [4,5].…”

“…While ovarian irradiation has been previously reported in patients with endometriosis refractory to medical treatment and who are inoperable, the case presented here is unique due to the complexity of the patient's clinical presentation. Literature on the use of radiation therapy for the management of uncontrolled bleeding is limited, with few studies reporting successful outcomes [3,5,[8][9]. In the cases discussed, bleeding was stopped following a hormonal fall with early menopause.…”