Doctors from the Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka (CHC Rijeka) successfully repaired the health complications that arose as a result of the treatment of the primary disease in a patient with a tumor on the bile duct, using a new method called hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), announced the CHC Rijeka.
Vedrana Rudan is a famous Croatian writer and the first patient who went through the HBOT method to treat complications that arose as a result of the treatment of the primary disease – tumor.
She described her case:
– I have been treated for cancer (bile duct cancer) for two years. More precisely, I have been fighting it with the help of the Oncology team in Rijeka who does not give up. They fight for all of us using the same enthusiasm. Still, a person breaks down after a while. Even steel would break down. About two months ago, my health condition worsened dramatically. I related it to the progression of my primary disease (bile duct cancer). At the hospital, I was told that the cause of my suffering was irradiated duodenum, whatever that means. I felt really bad. Terrible pain, shortness of breath, no appetite, no need for drink. I spent 24 hours in bed, wanting to die immediately. On Sunday, my husband took me to Oncology at 9:30 p.m. The doctor on duty was Ivana… I looked at her while her shoulders were shaking uncontrollably as she nervously tapped her cell phone, searching for a solution. “Tomorrow you will go to Sushak to try a method with the hyperbaric chamber. You will be the first in the world.” I stared at her and refused to discuss about yet another method. I suffered enough. I cried even in my sleep, desperate that I couldn’t stand on my feet. It is known that the oncology team does not give up. After two years of daily visits, I could say that I knew them. The next morning, they took me to Sushak in a bed from the hospital. Doctor Franolic explained the method to me, but I couldn’t understand a word he said. The team was really kind to the patients. It would be pretentious to explain what they did to me. I had heard that hyperbaric chamber was used for treating external wounds, and in my case, they were going to try to help me treat internal wounds. I looked like I was on a strict diet. Then I entered the chamber with the colleagues. I don’t know how many times I entered it. I didn’t care about statistics. Suddenly, I felt hungry. I feel it now. In two weeks, I gained ten kilograms. If only someone had told me that I would be happy about such perverse information. Now I’m done with the chamber, I’m at home, enjoying life. I walk, I eat, I drink, I breathe. I don’t know if this is a dream or reality, and that is the only problem I have right now. Maybe it’s not a dream, after all? My grandson said to me that somehow, I have recovered. Doctor Ivana told me that I was a world champion because no one has ever been treated this way before. Now I sit on the terrace with a box of chocolates in front of me. The real champions, however, are others – said Vedrana Rudan.
CHC Rijeka explained that their patient treated her liver metastases with stereotactic radiotherapy (STRT) a year and a half ago at another institution.
– As a later side effect, a large ulceration developed on the descending part of the duodenum. That did not respond to standard pharmacological therapy and as a result, the patient lost about 15 kilograms, feeling constant and unbearable abdominal pain and nausea. This significantly impaired the quality of life, as well as the further successful treatment with modern oncological therapy.
Despite the whole pharmaceutical therapy, the difficulties the patient had did not improve. Knowing that HBOT was preliminary investigated for the treatment of complications from conventional radiotherapy, although it had never been applied for complications from STRT, in agreement with the patient, we decided to treat her with HBOT. After the therapy, patient’s pain and nausea disappeared, she gained body weight, and the gastroscopic result showed a significant regression of the local finding of duodenum, explained doctor Ivana Mikolashevic.
She pointed out that there are studies indicating a possible benefit from the HBOT method through a pressure chamber in the treatment of consequences of standard radiotherapy of the digestive system, but there is no data on the effectiveness in treating complications of stereotactic radiosurgery of the abdomen, digestive tract and pelvis.
