Gastrointestinal side effects of the radioiodine therapy for the patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma two days after prescription

• Published in: World journal of nuclear medicine Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 173 - 178
• Main Authors: Pashnehsaz, Mehran, Takavar, Abbas, Izadyar, Sina, Zakariaee, Seyed, Mahmoudi, Mahmoud, Paydar, Reza, Geramifar, Parham
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd 01.09.2016; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd
• Subjects: Analysis; Carcinoma; Care and treatment; Complications and side effects; Original; Original article; Thyroid diseases; radioiodine therapy; thyroid cancer; Gastrointestinal (GI) side effects; short-term side effects
• ISSN: 1450-1147; 1607-3312
• DOI: 10.4103/1450-1147.174703

Iodine-131 (I-131) therapy is one of the conventional approaches in the treatment of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). The radioiodine agents also accumulate in the other organs that cause pain and damage to the patients. Radioiodine therapy is associated with various gastrointestinal (GI) toxicities. In this study, GI side effects of the radioiodine therapy were investigated. GI toxicities of the radioiodine therapy were studied in 137 patients with histologically proven DTC in Jun-Nov 2014. All the patients were treated by radioiodine agents in the research institute of Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. The patients were examined 48 h after prescription (before discharge) and their GI side effects were registered. Correlation of the age, gender, administered dose, administered dose per body weight as the independent factors, and GI side effects were analyzed using the Pearson correlation test with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Regression coefficients and linearity of the variable were investigated by MATLAB software. Line fitting was performed using MATLAB curve-fitting toolbox. From the subjects, 38 patients had GI complaints (30.4%). Significant factors influencing GI side effects were dose per body weight and administered doses. There was no significant correlation between age and gender as the independent parameters and GI complaints. The most prevalent GI side effect was nausea that occurs in 26.4% of the patients. From the results, it could be concluded that the GI side effects could be prevented by administering a safe radioiodine dose value less than 5,550 MBq.