Updated Interventions for Radiation-Induced Diarrhea: Putting Evidence Into Practice With the Oncology Nursing Society.

BACKGROUND: Radiation-induced diarrhea (RID) is a distressing side effect of radiation to the abdominal and pelvic areas and warrants evidence-based interventions. OBJECTIVES: This article reviews evidence for updates to the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) symptom intervention recommendations for treating and preventing RID. METHODS: The ONS RID project team reviewed primary interventional studies, systematic reviews, and clinical practice guidelines. Results were categorized based on quality and level of evidence, outcome magnitude, and agreement between studies. FINDINGS: The team categorized the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation as not established, sulfasalazine as unlikely to be effective, SpaceOAR™ as effective with caution for patients with prostate cancer, and probiotics as recommended for practice. The studies reviewed consistently reported favorable effects of probiotics use during and after radiation with minimal to no adverse events.