Study

Patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) can have chemotherapy with oxaliplatin postoperatively. Oxaliplatin can cause acute and chronic neurotoxicity. It is important to be aware of neurotoxic side effects so they can be documented and action taken at an early stage. The study aimed to identify and explore neurotoxic side effects documented in the medical records of patients with colorectal cancer treated with oxaliplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy. Data in this study were medical records; presenting documentation about patients treated at the University Hospital in the south of Sweden between 2009 and 2010. A summative content analysis approach was used to explore the neurotoxic side effects. Identification and quantification of the content of medical re-cords were carried out by using a study-specific protocol. “Cold sensitivity ” and “tingling in the hands ” were the most frequently documented neurotoxicity-related terms in the medical records. This identification was followed by interpretation. Three categories were identified in the inter-pretive part of the study: acute, chronic, and degree of neurotoxicity. The results show the impor-tance of awareness of neurotoxic side effects so that they can be documented and action taken a