How to treat rectal bleeding? Started after prostate cancer radiation

I had slight bleeding 140 post radiation. Most days it was a smear on my feces on my second bowel movement of the day. I did have two days where the toilet turned pick from the blood but as someone who donated blood every two months for years as disconcerting as it was it was for me a drop in the bucket. I did have the SpaceOar gel inserted before the five proton radiation treatment. It stopped thirty days ago. I cut back on my blood thinners and that seems to have worked at stopping the bleeding. What the future holds who knows as you said your husband started two years after his radiation.

It going on two years since the diagnosis of advanced prostate cancer at age 83. Radiation ended over a year ago and I have had my last Lupron shot 3 months ago.
Minor rectal bleeding has been going on for almost a year. I was told it may or may not end. Mine has gotten a little worse and will now consider having a procedure to cauterized areas that continue to intermittently bleed when having a bowel movement.

My question is: as anyone had this procedure and how successful is it.

Hey, I remember this same question on another topic and two other men had the same issue; cautery worked out well for both. Don't remember the topic -sorry!

This procedure is completely successful and painless. I was told by a number of oncologist that I should just get used to it because nothing would be effective.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2893353/#:~:text=Radiofrequency%20ablation%20(RFA)%20has%20been,1%20or%202%20RFA%20sessions.
You have to acertain that they are using the Halo 90 ablation wand and not settle in when they say radiofrequency. This wand was specially developed for esophageal ablation. In the use for proctopathy ( radiation proctitis has a different etiology than proctitis) it is shown to restore the normal epithelium because of a carefully controlled depth of frequency.
I had a difficult time finding a practitioner. But found the best at USC, dr. Buxbaum. My experience was six years ago, so maybe it is more commonly known now.
Radiation proctitis doesn't begin immediately after radiation but is progressive even years after treatment.
It's an outpatient procedure done in hospital. I would check in a 6am and usually have the procedure by noon. They usually administer light anesthesia, but I never had it because the rectum doesn't have any pain nerves. You get a little sensation with the application of the wand, but you can watch the whole procedure. I never experienced any pain afterward. I say never because I had it done several times. The treated areas never rebleed, but new areas will bleed and they limit the number of applications.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment also works, but it takes a long time. Its two hours a day in a chamber and it can take up to 90 sessions to achieve results.

What is the prep required for the Halo 90 ablation wand.

My Dr. wants to do a colonosopy also before doing the procedure for the rectal bleeding just to make sure the bleeding is not elsewhere in addition to the rectum. My last colonoscopy was 12 years ago when I was 73. It was totally clean as were the previous ones. At my age I would rather not have another.

If the prep required for the Halo 90 ablation wand is the same as for a colonosopy then I may also have both.

Thanks

flax,
the prep is the same. It is good to acertain that there isn't additional damage in the colon. Considering the angle of the beams with your cancer treatment your doctor might consider rectoscopy. My cancer was rectal.
It would be nice if they let you schedule both at the same time, so you'd only have one prep.
Was it easy for you to find a gastroenterologist for the Halo?
I'm delighted you were able to find a practitioner. Was it easy.

Flax, I had 22 sessions of external beam radiation about a year ago. This was in supplement to my prostatectomy which was three years ago. A slight increase in my postoperative PSA from 0.0602 0.14 is what triggered the radiation treatment. It was rising slightly. Since in my PSA has been 0.14, 0.11, and now 0.072. It's definitely heading in the right direction but it was slow. With my 22 sessions of external beam radiation there was absolutely no chemicals or ADT. 3+4 Gleason . The rectal bleeding started about four months after my radiation and continues until this day. I have a G.I. doctors appointment upcoming, so I can report back. My appointment is mid May, so if you want to get a hold of me during that time frame I can certainly tell you what the G.I. doctor told me. My urologist suggested that there is likely some irritation from the radiation and sometimes bleeding can come from polyps. He recommended that I see a G.I. doctor and that I requested the colonoscopy as well as the search down my oesophagus into my stomach looking for polyps and other abnormalities. However he suggested that the situation is not uncommon and is usually a result of irritation to the large intestine, irritation to the polyps in the large intestine and polyps in the stomach. He said the definitive answer must be obtained. God Bless Sir . James on Vancouver Island .

Ask about hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for radiation proctitis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537343/

The pathogenesis of radiation proctopathy is different from rectal proctitis. There has been a failing effort to reflect that in the medical language. Radiation damages the DNA of the rectal mucosa. Angioectasia (as differentiated from Telangiaectasia) those bright little vessels that bleed because of the damage. The result is ischemic tissue that sloughs and reforms as the angioectasia bleeds and reforms in a cyclic process. Spot Radiofrequency, formalin and can eliminate the malformed vessels, but they return.
Radiofrequency with the Halo 90 penetrates with a low controlled frequency that has been microscopically proven to allow the regrowth of normal epithelia in the rectum.
You might be interested in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8831406/#:~:text=RADIATION%20PROCTITIS%20AND%20ITS%20CLASSIFICATION,induced%20damage%20to%20the%20rectum.
Your treatment plan and the daily treatment effects would show you the amount of radiation to the colon, to the bladder, to the rectum, to the prostate etc. And would give you an idea how likely you are to have radiation damage in each area. >45gys is thought to be the cutoff.
My rectal exposure was high because it was a rectal cancer. I had multiple rectoscopies, and the staff cooed over how lovely my rectum. It was smooth and white with no evident flaws, no evident scarring. That white was damaged tissue. When the GI forgetting that I wasn't medicated decided to take a biopsy, I jumped causing my first and long lasting bleed. It would have bled eventually anyway because the DNA of that surface was radiation damaged.
The halo 90 is a wand with a tiny flat mesh (looks like a flyswatter) depth, frequency and duration are tightly controlled.

brianjarvis, HBOT can work and is good for you bones too. There is a nice chamber in Encinitas CA. You can sit for two hours and watch a movie or read. Great staff. But it takes two hours a day for 20 to 90 days to be effective. Forty hours were not effective for me.
But then at the risk of repeating myself this https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2893353/#:~:text=Radiofrequency%20ablation%20(RFA)%20has%20been,1%20or%202%20RFA%20sessions
was completely successful.