Does the Implant Spread Radiation to Others?

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Does the Implant Spread Radiation to Others?
The radioactive substance in your implant may transmit rays outside your body. While you're receiving implant therapy, the hospital may require you to stay in a private room. Although the nurses and other people caring for you will not be able to spend a long time in your room, they will give you all of the care you need. You should call for a nurse when you need one, but keep in mind that the nurse will work quickly and speak to you from the doorway more often than from your bedside. In most cases, your urine and stool will contain no radioactivity. However, either one may contain some radioactive material if you have unsealed internal radiation therapy.

There also will be limits on visitors while your implant is in place. Most hospitals do not let children younger than 18 or pregnant women visit patients who have an implant. Visitors should sit at least 6 feet from your bed and stay for only a short time each day (10 to 30 minutes). Have visitors ask your nurse for specific instructions before they enter your room.

Are There Any Side Effects?
You are not likely to have severe pain or feel ill during implant therapy. However, if an applicator is holding your implant in place, it may be somewhat uncomfortable. If you need it, the doctor will order medicine to help you relax or to relieve pain. Some patients feel drowsy, weak, or nauseated after having the anesthesia to place the implant, but these effects do not last long.

Be sure to tell the nurse if you have any side effects such as burning, sweating, or other unusual symptoms. In the section of this website called "Managing Side Effects, "you will find tips on skin care and what you can do about problems that might occur after implant therapy."

How Long Does the Implant Stay In Place?
The total amount of time that an implant is left in place depends on the dose (amount) of radioactivity with which the patient is treated. The implant may be low dose rate and left in place for several days, or it may be high dose rate and removed after a few minutes. Generally, low dose rate implants are left in place from 1 to 7 days. Your treatment schedule will depend on the type of cancer, where it is, your general health, and other cancer treatments you have had. Depending on where the implant is placed, you may have to stay in bed and lie fairly still to keep the implant from shifting.

For some cancer sites, the implant may be left in place permanently. If your implant is permanent, you may need to stay in your room away from other people in the hospital for a few days while the radiation is most active. The implant will lose energy each day, so by the time you are ready to go home, the radiation in your body will be much weaker. Your doctor will advise you if there are any special precautions you need to use at home.

High dose rate remote brachytherapy allows a person to be treated within a few minutes in inpatient or outpatient clinics. With remote brachytherapy, a very powerful radioactive source travels by remote control through tubes, or catheters, to the tumor. The radioactivity remains at the tumor for only a few minutes. This procedure is done by the brachytherapy team, who will watch you on a closed-circuit television. They will talk to you through an intercom In some cases, several remote treatments may be required. Sometimes, the catheter stays in place between treatments and sometimes it is removed, depending on your condition.