Iodine Treatment: Precautions and Side Effects

What is Iodine Treatment?

Iodine treatment, or iratherapy, is a treatment involving the use of radioactive iodine. It is used to treat certain thyroid disorders, such as:

• Thyroid carcinoma, in addition to surgical and medical treatment.
• Hyperthyroidism, in Graves' disease and Plummer's adenoma.
• In the case of a symptomatic multinodular goiter, when surgical treatment is contraindicated.

Note that these diseases cause some problems in the functioning of the thyroid gland. In this sense, the objective of iratherapy is to restore the normal functioning of the thyroid gland.

Precautions Before and After Radioactive Iodine Treatment

Before radioactive iodine treatment, the patient must take some precautions and follow the doctor's instructions, namely:

• Adopt a low-iodine diet (< 50 mcg of iodine per day) for about 2 to 3 weeks before treatment.
• Avoid consuming iodized salt, prepared and salted products, fish and shellfish, dairy and industrial products containing milk, soy, egg yolk, and foods containing red dyes.
• Carefully read the labels of purchased foods.
• Prepare your own meals and avoid eating in restaurants and fast food outlets.
• Pay attention to personal care products (hair dyes, detergents) and disinfectants containing iodine.

After thyroid iratherapy, the radioactive component is eliminated through urine, saliva, and sweat. This is why a hospital stay of a few days in shielded rooms is necessary after this iodine treatment. Furthermore, some precautions will need to be taken after returning home, namely:

• Avoid close contact with other people for at least 5 days, a period that can be extended to 8-10 days in the case of children and pregnant women.
• Sleep alone in a room and use disposable cutlery and dishes.
• Avoid pregnancy for at least 6 months after treatment and stop breastfeeding if it is ongoing.

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Side Effects of Radioactive Iodine Treatment

Immediate Side Effects

Immediately after radioactive iodine treatment, some people may experience immediate side effects resulting in temporary discomfort. In general, it is characterized by a feeling of a lump in the throat, stomach ache, a feeling of warmth or slight malaise, which disappears within 24 to 48 hours. Note that the undesirable effects of radioactive iodine treatment are rare, mild and transient and depend on the dose administered and the size of the cervical residue. The most frequent are:

• Sore throat. Indeed, the salivary glands can be irritated and the doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs or rarely cortisone.
• Vomiting.
• Headaches, which are treated with an analgesic if necessary.
• Bowel transit disorders.
• Fatigue

Allergy to radioactive iodine is very rare and manifests as breathing difficulties, chills, fever, itching and skin rashes.

Late Side Effects

As we have just seen, the side effects of radioactive iodine treatment generally disappear 2 to 3 days after treatment. However, it is good to know that in the following days, the treatment can weaken the sense of taste and a dry mouth sensation may appear. These disorders are generally temporary and disappear after a few weeks or months. Radioactive iodine treatment exposes the patient to a limited dose of radiation and the risk of inducing a new future neoplasm is absent, unless very high and repeated doses are necessary for particularly large or aggressive thyroid tumors.

Therapeutic Alternatives

When the patient has hyperthyroidism, the therapeutic alternative of pharmacological treatment with drugs that inhibit thyroid function is the first treatment implemented. However, this therapy may not retain its effectiveness over time. Indeed, hyperthyroidism often reappears when the dose of these antithyroid drugs is reduced. It is in these cases that the administration of radioactive iodine is of great importance. However, if medication and radioactive iodine treatment are not sufficient, surgery (total or partial removal of the thyroid gland) is the only possible therapeutic option.