What should you know about brachytherapy cylinder?

It is commonly used after surgery for womb cancer and may also be considered for selected vaginal or cervical cancers. The cylinder holds a radiation channel in the planned position; it is not itself radioactive between treatment sessions.

Before treatment, the team chooses a cylinder size that fits comfortably and uses the treatment plan to define the area receiving radiation. During a session, the applicator is placed in the vagina and connected to an afterloader. A small radioactive source moves through the channel for the planned dwell positions, then returns to the shielded machine.

You usually lie still while treatment is delivered. Staff leave the room during radiation delivery but can see, hear, and speak with you. Once the source has returned to the machine and the cylinder is removed, you are not radioactive.

Follow your department's instructions about eating, drinking, bladder filling, medicines, and arriving for treatment. Tell the team about pelvic pain, bleeding, infection symptoms, pregnancy possibility, a pacemaker, or difficulty lying flat before the session begins.

Temporary irritation can include vaginal soreness, light spotting, urinary burning, bowel looseness, or tiredness. Use only creams, washes, or pain medicines approved by your team. If a vaginal dilator is advised after treatment, ask when to start, how often to use it, and whether sexual activity is comfortable and medically appropriate.

Contact the treating team promptly for increasing pelvic pain, fever, foul-smelling discharge, heavy vaginal bleeding, inability to pass urine, blood in urine, or persistent vomiting or diarrhoea. Seek emergency help for severe bleeding, fainting, breathing difficulty, or rapidly worsening weakness.

Ask which tissue the plan targets, whether you need a full or empty bladder, what sensations to expect during insertion, and which side effects should trigger a same-day call. You can also ask how treatment may affect vaginal comfort, pelvic examinations, intimacy, fertility, and menopause symptoms.