Radiation cystitis!!! Help!!

Radiation cystitis! Now this can be a really challenging condition for urologists, and especially for patients, to manage and to live with. And we frequently struggle to get good results. It is often years and years after radiation to the pelvis when patients return with problems like bleeding, pain, incontinence, fistula etc, which can have everything from minor, to ruinous effects on quality of life. And although these are radiation oncology patients, it is the urologist (and sometimes other surgeons) who have to manage these unfortunate side-effects of radiation.

Today we travel to London to chat with two Urologists at Guy’s Hospital who have set up a dedicated clinic to manage Radiation Cystitis patients from across the UK. Dr Ramesh Thurairaja and Dr Yasmin Abu Ghanem, explain why they set up this service, and share with us their strategy for assessing and managing radiation cystitis. This episode is full of useful advice for anyone out there managing radiation cystitis, and hopefully might inspire more people to set up similar clinics to look after these unfortunate patients.

Links:

Guy's Hospital Radiation Cystitis Clinic

Pelvic Radiation Disease - Best Practice Pathway

Also available as an audio podcast, just search GU Cast wherever you get yours, or play directly below