ABSTRACT
Background: I131 therapy is regarded as an "internal surgery" (i.e., a non-invasive approach involving no incision or bleeding) that supports "external surgery" (i.e., using a scalpel) in completely eradicating the root cause of thyroid cancer. Limiting iodine intake is of paramount importance in I131 therapy. I131 therapy protocols recommend that patients follow a low-iodine diet, ideally with a maximum iodine intake of 50 µg/day for two weeks before the I131 therapy. Methods: A pre-post compassion uncontrolled clinic intervention study was conducted on a group of over 70 post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients with indications for I131 therapy at the Vietnam National Cancer Hospital from December 2020 to December 2022. Aim: It aimed to assess the effects of a low-iodine diet on post-thyroidectomy thyroid cancer patients with indications for I131 therapy. Results: The study found that following the intervention, the percentage of participants at risk of mild to moderate malnutrition, as assessed by the PG-SGA tool, decreased to 4.3% from 40.0% before the intervention, with a statistically significant difference of p < 0.001. There was a considerable improvement in the low calcemia level among the study participants, with 35.7% of patients experiencing hypocalcemia prior to the intervention, which reduced to 17.1% after the intervention. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.01). The study also revealed a urinary iodine level improvement among the study participants. Before the intervention, patients' average urinary iodine level was 14.9 ± 11.3â µg/dl. Following the intervention, it reduced to 12.7 ± 3.9â µg/dl, although this difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.29). Patients' quality of life after adhering to the low-iodine diet tended to decline; however, the change in scores before and after the intervention did not show a significant difference. Conclusion: Despite its negative impact on patients' quality of life, active nutrition counseling and intervention during the low-iodine diet contributed to the substantial improvement in the hypocalcemia level and the reduced urinary iodine level among patients, which in turn could enhance the efficacy of the subsequent I131 therapy.
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of intensive nutrition support on patients with tongue cancer and floor of mouth cancer after surgery at K Hospital, Tan Trieu campus. Study the clinical intervention with a control group. We conducted the intensive nutrition intervention for our patients by giving counseling materials, sample menu and nutritional supplements, while the control group had only advice about dietary regimens. We evaluated a group before and after the intervention, at the same time compare the two groups before and after the intervention. After 1 mo, the intervention group increased 0.51±1.43 kg in comparison with their weight at the beginning; the weight of the control group lost -0.59±2.33 kg; the difference had statistical significance (p=0.025). After 1 and 2 mo of intervention, the rates of the participants without risk of malnutrition in the intervention group increased significantly in comparison with that in the control group; the difference has statistical significance with p=0.001 and p=0.003. In terms of quality of life, patients' problems related to areas including health status, functioning, symptoms of the intervention group improved more greatly than those of the control group. Especially, anorexia symptoms and financial impact were improved well in the intervention group (p=0.033, p=0.018). Nutrition intervention in patients with tongue cancer and floor of mouth cancer has shown a beneficial effect of nutrition counseling and intervention to improve patients' status in terms of nutrition and their quality of life.
