Vol.102 No.11 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 102 No. 11 November 2009
Radiation-Induced Mucositis Pain in Laryngeal Cancer
Atsuhito Takahashi, Kazuhiko Shoji, Takehiro Iki,
Masanobu Mizuta and Mami Matsubara
(Tenri Hospital)
Radiation therapy in those with head and neck malignancies often triggers painful mucositis poorly controlled by nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). To better understand how radiation-induced pain develops over time, we studied the numerical rating scale (NRS 0-5) pain scores from 32 persons undergoing radiation therapy of 60-72 Gy for newly diagnosed laryngeal cancer. The degree of mucositis was evaluated using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version3.0 (CTCAE v3.0). We divided the 32 into a conventional fractionation (CF) group of 14 and a hyperfractionation (HF) group of 18, and further divided laryngeal cancer into a small-field group of 23 and a large-field group of 9.
The mucositis pain course was similar in CF and HF, but mucositis pain was severer in the HF group, which also required more NSAIDs.
Those in the large-field group had severer pain and mucositis and required more NSAIDs than those in the small-field group.
We therefore concluded that small/large-field radiation therapy, rather fractionation type, was related to the incidence of radiation-induced mucositis pain.
Key words :radiation-induced mucositis pain, head and neck malignancy, NSAIDs, numerical rating scale