Treatment of Oral Mucositis during Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer

Objective To explore the effects of two different gargles on acute oral mucositis during radiotherapy in patients with head and neck cancer.Methods A total of 87 patients with head and neck cancer were randomly assigned to receive either self-made gargle(n=43) or chlorhexidine mouthwash(n=44) within 1 week from the beginning of radiotherapy until week 7(4~5 times per day,10 mL per time).The curative effect and oral mucosa injury were assessed according to the RTOG/EORTC acute radiation mucositis grading standard.Results Compared with chlorhexidine mouthwash group,the self-made gargle induced an increase in the efficiency and a decrease in the incidence of grade Ⅲ acute radiation mucositis(P0.05).Conclusion Oral mucositis is an inevitable complication of radiation therapy for head and neck cancer.The self-made gargle is simple,cheap and effective in prevention and treatment of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer.