ABSTRACT
Radiotherapy of abdominopelvic primary or secondary lesions in conformational or stereotactic techniques is in full development. The small bowel is highly sensitive to irradiation and is the main organ at risk limiting prescription doses. This literature review aims to define the dose constraints to the small bowel and the duodenum in conformational and stereotactic body radiotherapy. The small bowel including the duodenum, jejunum and ileum is delineated on the simulation scanner. The radio-induced intestinal toxicities are acute related to the cellular depopulation of the intestinal mucosa, and late of more complex pathophysiology associating depletion in stem cells, microangiopathy, chronic inflammation and fibrosis. The main predictive factor of intestinal toxicity is the dose-volume ratio. In conformational radiotherapy, the dose constraints to the duodenum are: V25Gy<45% and V35Gy<20%. The jejunum and ileum dose constraints are for delineation by intestinal loop or peritoneal cavity respectively: V15Gy<275mL or V15Gy<830mL and V45Gy<150mL. In stereotactic body radiotherapy, small bowel dose constraints depend on fractionation and are defined on a small volume and on a maximum dose at one point. Intestinal toxicity is also dependent on factors intrinsic to the patient and radiosensitizers such as targeted therapies or chemotherapies. With the development of new techniques allowing dose escalation on the tumour and the development of inverse planning, the definition of dose constraints to the small bowel is essential for current practice.