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Evidence summaries

Interventions for Oral Mucositis in Patients Receiving Treatment for Cancer

Low level laser treatment might possibly be beneficial in reducing the severity of mucositis, although the evidence is insufficient on interventions for oral mucocitis in patients receiving treatment for cancer. Level of evidence: "D"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 32 studies with a total of 1 505 subjects. Three comparisons for mucositis treatment including two or more trials were: benzydamine HCl versus placebo, sucralfate versus placebo and low level laser versus sham procedure. Only the low level laser showed a reduction in severe mucositis when compared with the sham procedure (RR 5.28, 95% CI 2.30 to 12.13; 2 studies, n=57).

Only 3 comparisons included more than one trial for pain control: patient controlled analgesia (PCA) compared to the continuous infusion method, therapist versus control, cognitive behaviour therapy versus control. There was no evidence of a difference in mean pain score between PCA and continuous infusion, however, less opiate was used per hour for PCA (MD 0.65 mg/hour, 95% CI 0.09 to 1.20; 3 studies, n=113), and the duration of pain was less (1.9 days, 95% CI 0.3 to 3.5).

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by study quality (unclear allocation concealment), by inconsistency (heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes), and by imprecise results (limited study size for each comparison).

    References

    • Clarkson JE, Worthington HV, Furness S, McCabe M, Khalid T, Meyer S. Interventions for treating oral mucositis for patients with cancer receiving treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2010;(8):CD001973. [PubMed].

Primary/Secondary Keywords