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.
Keywords
Gastrointestinal (GI) side effects - radioiodine therapy - short-term side effects
- thyroid cancer
