High-power laser photobiomodulation therapy effective for pain relief in refractory oral mucositis patients
Cancer therapy, including radiotherapy (RT) to the head and neck region, cytotoxic chemotherapy (CT), and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), is frequently accompanied by major side effects such as pancytopenia, dermatitis, osteoradionecrosis, xerostomia, and oral mucositis
High-power laser photobiomodulation therapy effective for pain relief in refractory oral mucositis patients suggests a new study published in the Oral Diseases.
Researchers aimed to evaluate the efficacy of high-power (class IV) laser photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy for immediate pain relief due to oral mucositis (OM) refractory to recommended first-line therapy.
This retrospective study included 25 cancer patients with refractory chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-induced OM (16 and 9 patients, respectively) that were treated for pain relief with an intraoral InGaAsP diode laser (power density = 1.4 W/cm2). Pain was self-assessed immediately before and after laser treatment using a 0-to-10 numeric rating scale ([NRS], “0” = no pain, “10” = intolerable pain).
Results
Patients reported an immediate decrease in pain following 94% (74 of 79) of the PBM sessions, in 61% (48 sessions) the pain reduction was over 50%, and in 35% (28 sessions) the initial pain was completely eliminated. There were no reports of increased pain post-PBM. For chemotherapy and radiotherapy-treated patients, mean reduction in pain NRS post-PBM was 4.8 ± 2.5 (p < 0.001) and 4.5 ± 2.8 (p = 0.001), indicating a post-PBM reduction of 72% and 60% of the initial pain level, respectively. The analgesic benefit of PBM remained for a mean of 6.0 ± 5.1 days. One patient reported a transient burning sensation after one PBM session.
High-power laser PBM may provide nonpharmacologic, patient-friendly, long-lasting, rapid pain relief for refractory OM.
Reference:
Finfter, O., Cohen, R., Hanut, A., Gavish, L., & Zadik, Y. (2023). High-power laser photobiomodulation therapy for immediate pain relief of refractory oral mucositis. Oral Diseases, 00, 1– 8. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.14618
Keywords:
High-power, laser, photobiomodulation, therapy, effective, pain, relief, refractory, oral, mucositis, patients, Oral Diseases, Finfter, O., Cohen, R., Hanut, A., Gavish, L., & Zadik, Y.
