Oral surgery, oral medicine, and oral pathology
-
Oral Surg. Oral Med. Oral Pathol. · Mar 1990
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialChlorhexidine prophylaxis for chemotherapy- and radiotherapy-induced stomatitis: a randomized double-blind trial.
Patients receiving cytotoxic antineoplastic therapy often have treatment-associated stomatitis. A 0.12% chlorhexidine digluconate mouthrinse was evaluated (15 ml, three times a day) in a prospective, double-blind randomized trial as prophylaxis against cytotoxic therapy-induced damage to oral soft tissues. Seventy subjects, forty inpatients receiving high-dose chemotherapy and thirty outpatients receiving high-dose head and neck radiation therapy, were evaluated. ⋯ Although no differences were observed in oral mucositis between the control and chlorhexidine groups of patients undergoing high-dose radiotherapy, similar reductions of oral microflora to those seen in the chemotherapy population were also noted for patients undergoing radiation therapy who received chlorhexidine. Although generally not significant, some increase in gram-negative bacilli was noted in the chlorhexidine-treated patients in both the chemotherapy and radiotherapy groups, but there was no correlation with increased systemic infection. Prophylactic chlorhexidine mouthrinse reduces oral mucositis and microbial burden in patients with cancer undergoing intensive chemotherapy.