The effect of Oral Cryotherapy in Prevention of Oral Mucositis for Anti-Cancer Chemotherapy Patients

Uhm, Dong Choon

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of oral cryotherapy on oral mucositis in the patients who receiving high-dose ARA-C plus Mitoxantrone chemotherapy regimen. There were total of ten patients who received the chemotherapy regimen for 13 months ; 5 patients for the experimental group, while the others for the control group. The tool used for assess degree of oral mucositis was the Oral Assessment Guide(OAG) which was developed by Elier, Burger, Peterson in 1988. []The experimental group received oral cryotherapy range from 30minutes before the Mitroxantrone IV infusing to 30minutes after the high-dose ARA-C IV infusing. The control group was not treated by oral cryotherapy. The effect of this treatment was analyzed with the OAG score. The collected data were analysed with, mean, Mann-Whitney U test and Chi-square test according to characteristics of variables. The results were as follows : 1. There were no statistical difference in general characteristics(age, sex, cycle of the chemotherapy, smoking, alcohol) between the two groups, so the homogeneity of two groups was established. There were no differences in the OAG Scores between the two groups statistically. 2. The subjects of this study suffered the neutropenia from 5.6 days to 24.6 days after starting chemotherapy. During the neutropenia period the average OAG scores in the experimental group were lower than that of the control group(experimental group was 9.17+/-1.91, control group was 9.33+/-1.10). 3. The mean OAG of experimental group for 21 days was 204.72+/-20.61, while the mean of control group for 21 days was 206.23+/-15.97. There were, however, no differences between the experimental and the control groups statistically. The subjects of the experimental group expressed more comfortable oral condition than those of the past cycle and they would like to try oral cryotherapy again for the next chemotherapy. The subjects of this study suffered the neutropenia from 5.6 days to 24.6 days after starting chemotherapy. During the neutropenia period the average OAG scores in the experimental group were lower than that of the control group(experimental group was 9.17, control group was 9.33). 5 subjects of the study group complained of numbness, 3 subjects complained of slight headache, and 2 subjects expressed teeth and abdominal discomfort. However, these signs occurred temporarily and were resolved rapidly after cessation of the cryotherapy. It was I recommended that replication with larger sample.