THE VASCULAR TOXİCİTY DUE TO GEMCİTABİNE THERAPY AND İTS MANAGEMENT WİTH CERVİCAL SYMPATHETİC BLOCKAGE

Gemcitabine is a nucleocid analogue used commonly for chemotherapy of solid tumours. One of its common side effects is vascular toxicity. Case due to Gemcitabine therapy is an uretereal carcinoma. The patient admitted with muscle pain in upper extremity finger with movement, sensitiveness, hypoestesia, palor, and cyanosis on the second cure of Gemcitabine treatment. Microangiopathy due to Gemcitabine was diagnosed and vasodilatation and ten cures of servical sympathetic blockage were applied. Following the treatment sign and symptoms disappeared dramatically. In regard of this case we believe that servical sympathetic blokage is valuable as surgical sympathectomy in early stages of microangiopathy due to Gemcitabine. (Turkish J Vasc Surg 2004;13(3):39-42).