Evaluation of the effectiveness of low level laser therapy treatment on oral mucositis in children receiving chemotherapy

The efficacy of topical low-level laser therapy (DSLT) for the treatment of oral mucosis (OM) in the oral mucous membranes after chemotherapy was investigated in patients treated for childhood leukemias at the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Service. Method. The research was carried out with pediatric patients who hospitalized and underwent chemotherapy due to the diagnosis of leukemia and who developed an OM between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Medicine Child Hematology-Oncology Service. The patients were divided into two groups, randomized to 20 cases in both groups. The patients in the first group were accepted as the control Patients in this group were given topical treatment with sodium bicarbonate for OM treatment. Patients in the second group were treated with DSLT after OM developed. OM classification determined by the World Health Organization and Visual Pain Scale (VAS) scores were evaluated before and after the procedures applied after the development of mucositis in both groups. Results. 20 patients undergoing DSLT treatment; 45% (n = 9) boys, 55.0% (n = 11) girls, control group; 30.0% (n = 6) are boys and 70.0% (n = 14) are girls. There is no significant difference between groups in terms of gender and number of OM. There is no significant difference between the treatment groups in terms of OM localization (p = 0.682). At the beginning of treatment, there was no significant difference in terms of OM classification average between the groups on the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 11th days, while the OM classification of patients in the DSLT group was statistically significantly lower on the 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th days of treatment. On the 4th and 11th days when there was no statistical difference, it was found that the OM classification of patients in the DSLT group was lower, although not significant. The OM classification detected at the beginning decreased statistically significantly in both the DSLT group (p = 0.024) and the control group (p <0.001), with more in patients in the DSLT group over time. While there was no significant difference between the VAS score of the groups at the start of treatment (p = 0.260), the mean VAS score of the DSLT group was statistically significant compared to the standard care group in the controls performed on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 11th days of treatment. The initially determined VAS score decreased statistically significantly in both the DSLT group (p <0.001) and the control group (p <0.001) over time, with more in patients in the DSLT group. Conclusion. In the treatment of oral OM that occurs in children after CT, both standard care and DSLT treatment improve the clinic and pain of OM. In this study, more significant positive results were obtained when evaluating both VAS scale and WHO's oral mucositis classification in the group with DSLT. One of the complications occurring during and after the treatment of leukemia, which is a traumatic process, can be provided to spread the DSLT treatment in order to overcome OM with less pain and to perform its treatment in a shorter time.