Cancer treatments can have side effects which vary from drug to drug and patient to patient there are many.
Possible side effects focus on only one example the advice provided should not replace that of a health care professional one side effect you may experience is oral mucositis.
Signs and symptoms of oral mucositis include a sore and inflamed mouth with dry and burning sensations mouth ulcers pain when swallowing and an altered sense of taste good oral hygiene can help manage oral mucositis.
May be able to suggest pain-relieving medication or gels and mouth rinses if eating becomes unmanageable contact your doctor for advice.
Oral Mucositis - Managing Oncology Treatment Side Effects
Brush your teeth two to three times a day using a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste rinse your mouth using an alcohol-free prescription mouthwash, and if you have dentures clean them thoroughly by leaving them overnight in water with a little vinegar at least once a week.
Use a short straw for drinking, and try to drink cold iced beverages and plenty of water to stay hydrated whilst avoiding hot drinks sparkling beverages alcohol, and fruit juices.
When it comes to eating allow small pieces of ice to melt in your mouth before meals adhere to a protein-rich diet but avoid extreme flavours such as sour acidic spicy and very salty tastes instead consume milkshakes, smoothies, warm soups, and mashed potatoes and for dessert, dairy-based dishes such as ice cream can help your healthcare team.
What Are The Types of Stomatitis?
The two main forms of stomatitis are herpes stomatitis, also known as a cold sore(you get it from the contagious HSV-1 virus ), and aphthous stomatitis, also known as a canker sore.
You’re gonna have a sudden onset of the symptoms who got pain difficulty eating and swallowing a fever, and swollen gums for Aptus. You get this from a lack of vitamin b12 and you’re going to feel a burning tingling swelling and ulcers of the mucous membrane so to diagnose just take a medical history and a physical exam and to treat it’s supportive. You’re gonna wanna get antivirals also you’re going to want to avoid eating high acid foods.
Herpetic stomatitis is usually indicated by multiple blisters that occur in the:
- gums
- palate
- cheeks
- tongue
- lip border
Oral Mucositis – Pediatric Infectious Diseases
In this article, we’re going to discuss Infections of the Upper Airway in children and specifically, we’ll drill down on a few key examples of common infections that children can have in the upper airway.
Let’s start with the most anterior one which is stomatitis. We see this a lot. This is generally an infection of the mouth and most commonly is caused by the HSV virus. Remember, HSV is ubiquitous in the population. 95% of us have had HSV of the anterior mouth. The first time you get it, it can be particularly severe because you haven’t already made antibodies that can fight off the virus as it recurs and regenerates out of your nerves. That first infection can be severe and the children won’t want to eat rather than dehydrated and at risk for dehydration and not drinking and so we sometimes have to admit them for care. It can also be caused by Coxsackie, which as we know, causes hand, foot and mouth disease and in particular the mouth can be involved although usually Coxsackie virus lesions are more posterior and the HSV virus lesions are more anterior. Very rarely, it can be a fungal disease such as severe oral candidiasis Typically we might be worried about the immune system and in particular the T-cell function in these patients.
Treatment of Stomatitis
We also see stomatitis in particular clinical situations. In Canada, it’s less common but it is known to happen in patients with Kwashiorkor, it may happen with chemotherapy, it can happen in older children with autoimmune diseases such as lupus or Behcet’s disease is very common. Patients may have Stevens-Johnson syndrome. Remember, that can involve 2 areas of mucous membrane patient who has eye and mouth involvement and may happen in certain immune deficiencies. With stomatitis, the key is pain management. We have to give them pain management that can allow them to drink so that they can maintain their hydration.
In older children, we can use “magic mouthwash” which is a topical numbing medicine with a little bit of topical lidocaine in it. In younger kids, we may require morphine or ibuprofen and other therapies along those lines. In general, if a child can not drink they may require IV hydration.
If you suspect this is HSV, acyclovir may be a little bit beneficial if it is given very early. Within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, acyclovir may shorten the course of all these by a day or so. Again, we’ll treat them with that “magic mouthwash” which is an equal mix of viscous lidocaine, Maalox and Benadryl. They should not swallow it, they should spit it out. We do not want to do ingest too much Lidocaine. That can cause arrhythmias. We may use rectal ibuprofen or Tylenol.
This is a neat trick. We can take liquid ibuprofen and Tylenol and squirt them into the rectum because they won’t want to be swallowing pain medicines. That can be very effective. An interesting clinical pearl is that rectal ibuprofen bypasses the liver because of the inferior rectal veins they drain systemically so there may be a little bit of benefit for rectal ibuprofen and often will give oral opiates or IV opiates if they really won’t take anything at all. Remember, titrate opiates carefully in children. We do not want to make them too somnolent or have problems with their airway and breathing.
What's the Cause of Oral Mucositis?
Often it will be due to injury, infection, allergy, or skin disease. Share on Pinterest Biting the inside of the cheek or lip can cause stomatitis to occur. The most common causes are: trauma from ill-fitting dentures or braces, biting the inside of the cheek, tongue, or lip, and surgery.
