Complicações orais da radioterapia de cabeça e pescoço: uma revisão integrativa da literatura

Abstract

Head and neck cancer is a common disease today, ranking fifth in the world in the list of malignant neoplasms. Many of the patients who present with head and neck cancer are submitted to a surgical procedure, often associated with radiotherapy. Radiation therapy is a method capable of destroying malignant tumor cells, employing bundles of ionizing radiation. Although the treatment of malignant neoplasms of the head and neck with radiation is a therapeutic modality, it can provoke a wide range of oral complications that can be observed as a result of radio therapy, which in turn may prevent the continuation of oncoterapeutic treatment and the quality of life of the patient . PURPOSE : to review the literature and describe the oral complications that affect patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck neoplasms. METHODOLOGY : This study is an integrative bibliographical research, in which we sought to identify the oral complications resulting from head and neck radiotherapy. The research was carried out in the PubMed, Lilacs, Capes, BVS and Scielo databases, being the articles published from 2011 to 2017. The following descriptors were used: head and neck neoplasms, radiotherapy, oral manifestations. A total of 64 articles were found, of which, after verifying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 7 were used in this review. RESULTS: During radiation therapy many patients treated for head and neck cancer experience some degree of toxicity according to the irradiated area, fraction, therapeutic dose and among others. In the analyzed articles, xerostomia and mucositis were the most common oral complications, ranging from 90 to 100% in irradiated patients. Candidiasis and altered taste are also reported by the authors. Other oral complications that affect patients are osteoradionecrosis, dysphagia, radiation caries and trismus. These were little cited by the authors of the analyzed articles, since they are the ones of lower incidence in the patients submitted to radiotherapy of head and neck. CONCLUSION : Based on the articles used in this study, it is concluded that radiotherapy used for the treatment of head and neck neoplasias causes oral complications, especially xerostomia and mucositis, which may lead to a compromise of quality of life and continuity of treatment