Low-level laser therapy and oral mucositis in pediatric oncology: synopsis of systematic reviews

Abstract

Oral mucositis (OM) affects children and young people with cancer treatment, where low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been suggested as a preventive method. The objective of this article was to analyze, by means of a synopsis, the effects of LLLT on the prevention and treatment of the clinical picture of OM in a pediatric cancer population treated with radiotherapy and/ or chemotherapy. An electronic search of systematic reviews published between 2018 and 2021 was performed in the Medline database, Epistemonikos metasearch engine and the Google Scholar registry. The search strategy was “low-level light therapy AND oral mucositis AND pediatric patient”. 273 articles were found, analyzing two systematic reviews. LLLT was shown to reduce the risk of OM (OR = 0.50, 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.87), improving the clinical picture on the seventh day (RR = 0.90, 95% CI, 0.46 to 1.78) with few adverse events. LLLT seems to reduce the risk of OM and the severity of the condition, although more studies are required to identify an optimal dose.

Keywords

• Low frequency laser therapy. Oral mucositis. Pediatric patient. Neoplasms.