Oral Complications of The Oromaxillofacial Area Radiotherapy

BACKGROUND: The incidence of malignancies is on the rise in different communities, making them the second most important cause of mortality in developed countries. One of the treatment modalities for these malignancies, apart from surgery and chemotherapy, is radiotherapy which might in itself lead to some complications in the area receiving radiation. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the prevalence of oral complications in patients undergoing radiotherapy of the oromaxillofacial area in Shahid Ramazanzadeh Radiotherapy Center in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present descriptive/analytical study was carried out from 2014 to 2015 on 144 patients with head and neck malignancies, referring to Shahid Ramazanzadeh Radiotherapy Center, Yazd, Iran. The patients underwent intraoral examinations before radiotherapy, during the second week after radiotherapy and at the end of radiotherapy. The patients’ background data and the presence of oral complications were recorded in special forms. Data were analyzed with SPSS 17, using chi-squared test. RESULTS: Of 144 patients evaluated, 51 were male and 93 were female. During the final examination, all the subjects (100%) had mucositis, xerostomia and candidiasis, with 85.4% of the subjects (123 patients) suffering from gustatory disturbances. Although only 38.1% of the subjects had oral ulcers at the end of the second week, all of them (100%) exhibited such lesions in the final examination. The prevalence rate of tooth hypersensitivity at this stage was 22.9%. During the second examination, 117 subjects (83.3%) exhibited grade I trismus, 42 of which exhibited deterioration toward grade II during the final examination. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study showed a high rate of oral complications in patients undergoing head and neck radiotherapy. Mucositis, xerostomia and candidiasis were the most prevalent complications.