Toxicity Associated With Bowel or Bladder Puncture During Gynecologic Interstitial Brachytherapy

The operating time, length of hospital stay, and treatment-induced morbidity in this cohort compared favorably to series using techniques to avoid visceral puncture. Additionally, visceral puncture did not correlate with the occurrence of acute or late toxicity. These data suggest that visceral puncture in the absence of source loading carries a low risk of morbidity.