[Prevention and therapy of acute radiation injuries of the skin and mucosa. I. Results of a German multicenter questionnaire].

Background: The acute radiation related morbidity is an essential factor for the patient's outcome in radiotherapy. The prophylactic and therapeutic management of acute side effects has a wide clinical range between different radiation oncology departments. In this work, it was to evaluate the remedies, which are used for prevention and therapeutic management of acute radiation related morbidity of the skin and mucosa (mouth, pharynx, esophagus, small and large bowel, rectum and vagina).
Methods: A questionnaire was sent to 130 radiotherapeutic departments in Germany in July 1995. The questionnaire had been designed with 22 open questions concerning the preventive and therapeutic management of acute radiation related morbidity of skin and mucosal sites. It has been correlated to the scoring system of the RTOG/EORTC and its German modification according to Seegenschmiedt and Sauer. The evaluation was performed anonymously.
Results: From 130 questionnaires, 89 (68.4%) were sent back till August 1995. All of them were evaluable. The recommendations showed a broad spectrum for each site. Especially the oral mucositis was treated in many different ways and combinations. The prevention and therapy of complicating superinfections seem to be the joint principle of most of the recommendations.
Conclusions: The management of the acute radiation related morbidity has a wide clinical spectrum among different radiation therapy centers. Systematic prospectively designed investigations are necessary in order to achieve a further reduction in the radiation related acute morbidity. Therefore, a multicenter collaborative working group has been founded.