Will lung cancer treatment cause complications? The main things to note when treating lung cancer

Over the past half century, the incidence of bronchial lung cancer has increased year by year and has become one of the most common malignant tumors. Many patients are unable to undergo surgery when they seek medical treatment, and the effect of intravenous chemotherapy is not ideal. Interventional therapy has received increasing attention in clinical practice due to its unique advantages. Because bronchial lung cancer is mainly supplied by bronchial arteries, bronchial artery infusion chemotherapy (BAI) and bronchial artery embolization (BAE) are the main interventional treatments for bronchial lung cancer. The survival rate and quality of life of patients are better than systemic intravenous chemotherapy.

Due to the anatomical characteristics of bronchial arteries that can send out spinal cord branches and share a common trunk with the intercostal arteries, in addition to the complications of general vascular puncture and catheterization and intercostal artery complications (manifested as band-like or flaky swelling and pain on the chest wall skin), the most serious complication of bronchial artery chemoembolization is spinal cord damage. Although the latter has a low incidence, the consequences are serious and vigilance must be increased. When performing bronchial artery angiography (BAG), attention should be paid to identifying the "hairpin sign". During BAI, anticancer drugs should be fully diluted and slowly injected. During BAE, 3F microcatheter superselective intubation should be used to avoid the anterior spinal artery and nerve root nutrient artery. At the same time, it should be stopped when necessary and excessive embolization should be avoided to prevent reflux. The clinical manifestations of spinal cord ischemia are numbness of the limbs, urinary and bowel disorders, and inability to move the lower limbs after treatment. Once discovered, vasodilators such as nicotinamide, low molecular weight dextran, and salvia miltiorrhiza should be used as soon as possible to improve spinal cord blood circulation, and dexamethasone or mannitol dehydration treatment should be used to reduce spinal cord edema, as well as other corresponding symptomatic treatments. As long as the treatment is timely, most patients can recover completely.