Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy for the treatment of oral mucositis-A comparative study

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of photobiomodulation and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in the treatment of oral mucositis. Background: Oral Mucositis is a frequent complication of oral cavity and oropharynx cancer. Considering the OM aggravation by microorganisms contamination, disinfection provide by antimicrobial photodynamic therapy could be an effective approach. Material and Methods: This comparative study included fourteen patients undergoing radiochemotherapy for oral cavity and oropharynx cancer treatment, who developed oral mucositis. Control group: photobiomodulation. Intervention group: photobiomodulation and antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. The lesion size, duration, pain, and identification of microorganisms were evaluated. Results: The mean reduction in oral mucositis size in the intervention group was 0.70 cm2 (+/- 0.35) and 0.30 cm2 (+/- 1.10) for the control group. The mean duration of oral mucositis was 18.37 days (+/- 12.12) for the intervention group and 23 days (+/- 14.78) for the control group. The intervention group had a mean reduction of 3.40 points on the pain scale (+/- 2.44), while the control group had 0.17 (+/- 2.28). In the intervention group, the predominant isolated microbiota was featured as mixed culture (n = 4/ 50%), followed of Gram Positive (n = 3/ 37.50%), and Gram Negative (n = 1/ 12.55%). In the control group, mixed culture was also more frequent (n = 4 / 66%), followed by Gram Positive (n = 2 /34%). Gram Negative was not predominantly isolated in the control group. Conclusion: No statistical significance was found between PBM-T alone and PBM-T + PDT. However, the better outcomes reached by PBM-T + PDT group would suggest there could be a role for combined treatment in the management of OM lesions.