ABSTRACT
Background: Acute leukemia is a common malignancy in childhood that is now curable with chemotherapy. The use of chemotherapeutic agents has numerous complications. We studied the incidence of gastrointestinal complications and its relation to specific phases of treatment
Material and Method: In a cross-sectional study we examined 75 patients with acute leukemia who were treated with chemotherapy [Oct 2003 - Aug 2004] in Sheikh Hospital in Mashad/Iran. These patients had at least one GI complication caused by chemotherapy. The data was collected using a questionnaire
Results: The most common complications were oral ulcers [56%] and odinophagia [25.3%]. The mean age of patients with diarrhea [p=0.01 8] and abdominal distention [p=0.008] was considerably, higher than of other patients and it was significantly lower in patients with odinophagia [p=0.001]; perioral ulcers [p=0.017], diarrhea [p=0.045], nausea and vomiting [p=0.031] and oral aphthes [p=0/043] were notably more common during the first phase of modified BFM Protocol for ALL treatment
Conclusion: The age of the patient and the phase of treatment have significant statistical relation with GI complications