STUDY OF EFFICACY OF HYPOFRACTIONATED RADIOTHERAPY 8 GRAY IN SINGLE FRACTION IN PALLIATION OF PAIN SECONDARY TO BONE METASTASIS

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of hypo-fractionated radiotherapy 8 Gray in 1 fraction for palliation of pain secondary to bone metastasis. Study Design: Quasi-experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: Oncology department, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, Sep 2012 to Nov 2013. Patients and Methods: Forty three patients were included after permission from concerned authorities and Hospital Ethical Committee. OPD registration numbers, name, age, gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS), diagnosis of primary malignancy along with histopathology and sites of skeletal metastasis were recorded. Radiotherapy 8 Gy in 1 fraction was administered using 6MV (mega voltage) Primus Linear Accelerator with 2-2.5 cm margin around the gross disease at the Oncology department, CMH Rawalpindi. Pain score was recorded using visual analogue scale on the day of administering radiotherapy (day 0) and thirty days (day 30) after radiotherapy to assess response to treatment. Results: There was a statistically significant (<0.001) improvement in the scores of pain with treatment at day 30. Thirty four out of forty three patients (86%) showed an improvement in pain score. Conclusion: Based on our results hypofractionated radiotherapy 8 Gy in 1fraction is an effective modality in the palliation of pain secondary to bone metastasis.

Keywords

• bone metastasis
• palliative