ORAL HEALTH EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE PROGRAM
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Title Oral Cryotherapy Reduces the Prevalence of Oral Mucositis in Adults Receiving Chemotherapy
Clinical Question Does oral cryotherapy reduce the prevalence of oral mucositis in adults receiving chemotherapy?
Clinical Bottom Line In adult patients undergoing chemotherapy, oral cryotherapy treatment reduces the presence of oral mucositis.
Best Evidence (you may view more info by clicking on the PubMed ID link)
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type
(level of evidence)
#1) 26695736Riley/20151280 patients undergoing cancer treatment in 14 RCTsSystematic review of randomized trials
Key resultsAdults receiving chemotherapy treatment along with oral cryotherapy showed a reduction in oral mucositis of any severity when compared to the control of standard care or no treatment (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.52 to 0.72). When considering only the patients with moderate to severe oral mucositis, similar reduction of the condition occurred (RR 0.52, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.65). The patients with severe oral mucositis also showed reduction (RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.61). Patients with any level of severity of oral mucositis showed reduction of the symptoms with oral cryotherapy treatment.
Evidence Search ("mouth"[MeSH Terms] OR "mouth"[All Fields] OR "oral"[All Fields]) AND ("cryotherapy"[MeSH Terms] OR "cryotherapy"[All Fields]) AND ("stomatitis"[MeSH Terms] OR "stomatitis"[All Fields] OR ("oral"[All Fields] AND "mucositis"[All Fields]) OR "oral mucositis"[All Fields])
Comments on
The Evidence
Validity: This systematic review of 14 RCTs used two review authors that independently screened electronic search results. Patient groups were similar at the start, then varied in their treatment plans of receiving oral cryotherapy or not. The study authors of the RCTs were contacted for information “when feasible.” The risk of bias was assessed by the authors; all included studies were determined to be at high risk of bias. Perspective: This is a systematic review with a large patient group of 1280 patients. The size of the study and consistency of the results offer evidence that oral cryotherapy can be a reasonable approach to reducing oral mucositis in chemotherapy patients. There appears to be no long-term harmful side effects from the treatment in any of the follow-ups with the patients.
Applicability Oral cryotherapy is a relatively simple and low-cost procedure that can be conducted during a session of chemotherapy treatment. It is unlikely to be done in a dental office setting, but it can easily be administered in a chemotherapy clinic. No side effects of oral cryotherapy were listed that differed from normal effects of chemotherapy. The low risk of adverse effects and potential benefits of the procedure make it easy to recommend for patients.
Specialty/Discipline (Public Health) (Oral Medicine/Pathology/Radiology) (General Dentistry) (Basic Science)
Keywords Oral mucositis, oral cryotherapy, cancer treatment, chemotherapy
ID# 3029
Date of submission: 03/23/2016spacer
E-mail grossk@livemail.uthscsa.edu
Author Kyle Gross
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor/Co-author Georgiana S. Gross, MPH
Faculty mentor/Co-author e-mail grossg@uthscsa.edu
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?)
post a rationale
None available
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Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
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