Search

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of photobiomodulation for oral mucositis on body weight and body mass index (BMI) in head and neck cancer patients., Methods: Patients were separated into two groups: photobiomodulation (PBM) (n = 17) and SHAM (n = 19). Participants assigned to the PBM group received the photobiomodulation therapy on alternate days at 33 different sites of the oral mucosa (1 J for 10 s per application point) using a low-power aluminum gallium arsenide (AsGaAl) laser device with a maximum output power of 86.7 mW and a wavelength of 660 nm (red). The same protocol was performed in patients allocated in the SHAM group but with the device turned off. At the first and twenty-fourth radiotherapy sessions, participants from both groups underwent an intraoral examination to assess the presence or absence of mucositis using the WHO scale, and measurements of weight and height for BMI calculation were undertaken., Results: All patients had significant differences in weight and BMI throughout the study period. Patients in the PBM group lost less weight (p < 0.01) and had a reduced BMI loss (p < 0.01) in comparison to patients in the SHAM group. Although PBM did not prevent oral mucositis, it decreased its severity (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: Photobiomodulation for oral mucositis reduced weight loss and prevented a reduction in BMI in patients who underwent chemoradiotherapy for head and neck cancer. Retrospectively registered at https://data.mendeley.com//datasets/4kd7s49wk4/1 ., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the adherence of patients with head and neck cancer who underwent radiotherapy or radio-chemotherapy combined to the preventive laser photobiomodulation protocol in a public health service., Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, whose population sample included patients with malignant head and neck neoplasms. Thirty head and neck cancer patients undergoing cancer treatment, were examined and interviewed through a record of signs and symptoms of oral mucositis (OM) and adherence to the preventive laser photobiomodulation protocol, that began in the first session of radiotherapy, and included the laser application three times a week during the 3-week period. The collected data were documented, and the descriptive and inferential statistics were performed with a significance level of p < 0.05., Results: It was observed that 66.6% of patients developed OM. There was a predominance of degrees I and II, with 36.8% and 31.6%, respectively. A total of fifteen patients (50%) missed one or more laser photobiomodulation sessions. A positive association was found between patients who missed at least two laser photobiomodulation sessions with the development of OM degrees III (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: There was moderate adherence of patients with head and neck cancer to the laser photobiomodulation protocol and the development of more severe degrees of OM was related to individuals that didn't attend scheduled sessions., (Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To systematically evaluate randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on whether adjuvant application of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) through the technique of irradiation in the external region of the periodontal pocket with optic‐fibre tip offers benefits to scaling and root planning (SRP). Methods: Five databases were searched by two independent reviewers according to pre‐specified eligibility criteria up to April 2023. No restrictions regarding date of publication, language and minimum follow‐up period were imposed. The Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2.0) was used for quality appraisal and Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation for assessing the certainty of evidence. Results: A total of 1388 publications were identified and reviewed for eligibility. Four of them fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The sample consisted of a total of 83 patients with periodontitis. In these, 330 periodontal sites were evaluated. The clinical findings of the majority of the included studies demonstrated that patients who received the association of aPDT + RAR with the protocol evaluated here, obtained clinical results similar to patients who received only the SRP alone. In none of the evaluated RCTs, clinical advantages were observed that would categorise this aPDT protocol as superior to conventional treatment. Conclusion: Applying aPDT after SRP with external irradiation of the periodontal pocket does not seem to result in any clinical benefit compared to the use of SRP alone in patients with periodontitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is primarily responsible for the development of painful mucocutaneous viral lesions in the head and neck region. Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) consists of the use of a photosensitizing chemical substance, which interacts with an appropriate light source under the presence of oxygen, with consequent destruction or microorganisms’ inactivation . The aim of this study was to conduct a literature review on the use of aPDT in the treatment of HSV-1, as well as to identify and characterize the main photosensitizing agents used in this technique. This was a narrative literature review, based on the research of scientific articles carried out in the PubMed database, from February to June 2021, using the crossing of the descriptors Decs/Mesh “photodynamic therapy” and “viral infection”; “photodynamic therapy” and “herpes virus”. According to the established criteria, a total of 27 articles published in the last 20 years were included. The results demonstrate that despite the scarcity of studies involving aPDT in herpetic lesions, a single application of this therapy and with different protocols improved the clinical appearance and associated symptoms. Thus, antiviral PDT has been shown to be effective in in vitro and in vivo studies, regardless of the dye used. However, more controlled clinical trials need to be carried out in order to establish the real effectiveness of this therapeutic resource in viral infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]