Oral Mucositis in Children with Leukemia Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Case Series

Abstract

Objective: To report nine cases of pediatric patients with Acute Lymphoid Leukemia (ALL) or Acute Myeloid Leukemia who developed severe oral mucositis (SOM) at the first week of chemotherapy. Material and Methods: The cases were selected from a sample of 105 children followed for 10 consecutive weeks. Hematological and personal data were obtained from the patient's medical records. The oral cavity was examined weekly using the modified Oral Assessment Guide. Results: More of the patients were male (55.6%), had black/brown skin (55.6%), with ALL (66.7%), and the mean age was 5.55. Two patients had values below normal for leukocytes, platelets, and creatinine over the follow-up. However, all patients showed changes in the normality of hematological data in most weeks. The most used chemotherapeutic agents were aracytin, etoposide, and methotrexate, known for their high stomatotoxic potential. Patients had 2 to 6 (mean of 4) episodes of SOM and 4 to 7 (mean of 5.5) episodes of OM. One patient at week 7, one patient at week 5, and one patient at weeks 2 and 10 did not have OM. Saliva (84 times) and lips (44 times) were the most affected items. Conclusion: The patients showed oscillations in the severity of oral mucositis and hematological parameters over the follow-up. All patients were exposed to stomatotoxic drugs during the initial phase of cancer treatment.

Keywords

• Mucositis
• Stomatitis
• Hematologic Diseases
• Drug Therapy