192 - Laser Therapy for Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Patients with Oral Mucositis

Purpose:  
Aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness/feasibility of photobiomodulation therapy with low-level laser therapy to decrease the possibility of developing oral mucositis (OM) in high-risk patients with cancer or patients undergoing chemotherapy/hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Previous research in the treatment arm targeted patient’s that developed OM.

Methods:
The study included 16 patients in the prevention arm. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is initiated at specific wattage and frequency at localized areas intra-orally. The sessions start in patient’s conditioning stage and continue one-week post bone marrow transplant or at start of chemotherapy for a total of two weeks. The OM grade of pain, relative size of lesion if developed, ChIMES scores, and pain medication distributed is recorded. Feasibility will be determined by assessing number of sessions attempted vs completed, satisfaction scores, and presence of adverse events.

Results:
No adverse events reported at this time. Overall, the prevention arm was more widely accepted than the treatment arm due to lack of lesions present at time of therapy.

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, mucositis can affect the entire GI tract and often presents itself in the oropharynx skewing the ChIMES scores. Other limitations include feasibility of performing therapy if not admitted to the hospital, analgesic medication, and small sample size. In conclusion, there is no evidence to say that LLLT has any true clinical benefit for pediatric hematology/oncology patients with OM. It can be generated that the therapy is easy and well tolerated. Further research is crucial when determining LLLT role in OM prevention.