Abstract:

Objective To systematically review the incidence and risk factors of radiation enteritis in patients with cervical cancer undergoing radiotherapy, and to provide reference for clinical prevention and reduction of radiation enteritis. Methods We searched for retrospective studies and cohort studies on the occurrence of radiation enteritis in patients with cervical cancer from PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL Complete, Web of Science, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang database, VIP, and CBM. The search period was from the establishment of the database to February 2022. Meta-analysis of the included literature was performed using Stata 16.0 and RevMan 5.3. Results A total of 13 publications were included, with a combined sample size of 3 940 cases and 1 554 patients who developed radiation enteritis. The results of meta-analysis of the incidence of radiation enteritis in cervical cancer showed a large heterogeneity among the included studies（I²=99%, P<0.001）, and the incidence of radiation enteritis in cervical cancer was 44% based on a random-effects model[95%CI（0.32, 0.56）, P<0.001]. The main influencing factors affecting the occurrence of radiation enteritis in cervical cancer were age（≥60 years） [OR=1.14, 95%CI（1.02, 1.27）], irradiated dose to parametrial tissue（>50 Gy）[OR=6.49, 95%CI（3.06, 13.79）], rectal V40（≥40%）[OR=5.78, 95%CI（2.33, 14.38）], combined hypertension[OR=6.78, 95%CI（3.94, 11.69）]. Conclusion Medical staffs should pay attention to the gastrointestinal symptoms of patients with cervical cancer who are≥60 years old and complicated with hypertension, and give preventive evaluation and nursing care to patients with high-dose radiotherapy （radiation dose of parauterine tissue>50 Gy, rectal V40≥40%）.

Key words: Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Risk Factors, Radiation enteritis, Meta analysis