Use of a Porcine Dual Mesh to Prevent Radiation-Associated Small Bowel Injury

Cervical cancer is the second most common gynecologic cancer in women. However, the incidence showed a decline in the gynecologic cancer rates with the effective use of screening tests. The primary treatment at an early stage is either surgery or radiotherapy. Unfortunately, with the increasing use of radiotherapy, radiation enteritis has become an increasing problem. To avoid the radiation side effects, many technical and/or medical strategies have been described. For example, surgical placement of absorbable mesh slings and silicone prostheses have been described as a pelvic obliteration technique to keep the small intestine away from the adjuvant boost field. In this case report, we placed a PermacolTM surgical implant to displace the loops of the bowel out of the pelvis for the purpose of reducing the bowel injury due to external beam radiotherapy.