The use of a prosthetic tissue expander to displace bowel from a brachytherapy implant site

We describe the use of a prosthetic maneuver to displace bowel from an implant site. The patient presented with a recurrent low grade fibrosarcoma which was grossly excised with positive microscopic margins in the right paravertebral area. For this reason we performed an Iridium-192 implant using afterloading catheters. Because of several dense adhesions, it was not possible to mobilize an omental sling over the implant site. To prevent the small bowel from lying on the catheters, we inserted a prosthetic breast tissue expander. This was expanded with saline and bacitracin solution and placed in the tumor bed overlying the catheters, thereby displacing the small bowel away from the sources. A postoperative CT scan with gastrograffin demonstrated that this procedure was effective. There were no complications. We conclude that such devices are suitable for use under these circumstances and can achieve the objective of decreasing the dose of radiation to the small bowel.