·Urological Complications in Relation to the Treatment of Cervical Cancer

The increasing radicalism of the treatment for cervical cancer-the operation as well as the irradiation -has made therapy increasingly serious for the patient in general, but especially for the organs near the uterus, mainly the urologic system. The care for the patient does not start with the treatment but begins before, with a thorough examination. One of the most important parts of this examination is the checking of the urologic system. Ever since radical operations have been performed, one has thought of the danger to these organs. Nevertheless, in the earlier days, preoperative examination was not done because cystoscopy was in its beginnings and it did not seem particularly necessary to know the condition of the urinary tract, since the operation had to be done anyway if technically possible. There were only two alternatives: to be operated on with a very limited chance of a cure, or to die; thus, any risk was accepted. Now cystoscopy has been done routinely for about 40 years, and we realize that we need to know more about the urinary system than cystoscopy can tell us. There should be a law never to operate for cervical cancer unless the urinary tract is normal. The diagnostic measures to be used are cystoscopy (or perhaps chromocystoscopy) and intravenous pyelography. Of course, the urine should also be examined for albu-