Long-Term Endoscopic Follow-Up of Patients with Chronic Radiation Proctopathy after Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer

Table 4

Endoscopic and clinical factors for improvement of VRS in patients with VRS ≥ 1 who underwent follow-up endoscopic examination.

	Treated group (HBO or APC)	Improved group	Unchanged group	p value
	4	5	11
VRS
1	0	0	4
2	1	2	7
≥3	3	3	0
TE score
0	0	0	0
1	0	0	4
2	1	5	7
3	3	0	0
UL score
0	0	2	11
1	1	3	0
2	0	0	0
3	1	0	0
UL 1 (+)	1/4	3/5	0/7	<0.05
TE 3 or UL ≥ 2	3/4	0/5	0/5	<0.05
Age, years	71.8 ± 8.3	67.2 ± 3.1	69.7 ± 4.2	NS
Stage T1/T2	2/2	3/2	6/1	NS
Use of ADT	2	2	5	NS
Use of antithrombotic drugs	2	1	1	NS
volume, mL	22.5 ± 5.5	25.1 ± 7.0	24.6 ± 9.4	NS
Use of EBRT boost	4	5	7	NS
Number of seeds	71.3 ± 6.3	61.0 ± 13.8	62.9 ± 13.3	NS

VRS, Vienna Rectoscopy Score; HBO, hyperbaric oxygen therapy; APC, argon plasma coagulation; TE, telangiectasia; UL, ulceration; ADT, androgen deprivation therapy; EBRT, external-beam radiotherapy; NS, not significant.
The improved group versus the unchanged group, p < 0.05.
The treated group versus the improved group; the treated group versus the unchanged group, p < 0.05.