Slovenská chirurgia 3-4/2016
Late radiation tissue injury to the chest wall – a case report
Late radiation tissue injury to the chest wall is a major complication that occurs in small amount of patients after radiation therapy. Women exposed to the external beam radiation therapy during their treatment for breast carcinoma have increased risk for this complication. Modern radiation therapy regimens dramatically decreased the incidence of late radiation tissue injury over last decade, especially the presence of chronic postradiation ulcers and osteroradionecrosis became very rare. Radical debridement of irradiated field and chest wall reconstruction with the help of vascularised tissue coverage in the form of musculocutaneus flaps or greater omentum should be considered as treatment of choice in most patients. Authors present their case report of a 65-year-old woman treated for chronical infected radiation ulcers in combination with diffuse chest wall calcifications. Chest wall resection followed by reconstruction with the use of acellular dermal matrix, titanium implants and latissimus dorsi musculocutaneous flap became their choice of treatment.
Keywords: radiotherapy, radiation injury, chest wall resection, infection
