Investigation of the effect of oral care with coconut oil on the degree of oral mucositis in pediatric oncology patients

Aim: The study was conducted as a randomized controlled experimental study to determine the effect of oral care with coconut oil on the degree of oral mucositis in pediatric oncology patients aged 7-18 years. Methods: The study population consisted of 42 children (21 experimental group, 21 control group) who were hospitalized in the pediatric hematology-oncology wards of a city hospital in Istanbul between March and October 2023. The control group received routine basic oral care, and the experimental group received coconut oil oral care in addition to routine basic oral care. The degree of oral mucositis in both groups was evaluated on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 using the World Health Organization (WHO) Mucositis Rating Scale and the Children's International Mucositis Evaluation Scale (ChIMES). The frequency of oral care was determined according to the WHO Mucositis Rating Scale score. Results: Descriptive characteristics of children and parents in the study groups were similar (p>0.05). When evaluating the mucositis scores of the children, while there was no difference between the groups in terms of mucositis scores on day 0, both the WHO Mucositis Rating Scale and ChIMES scores of the experimental group were significantly lower than those of the control group on days 7 and 14 (p<0.001). At day 21, ChIMES scores were significantly lower in the experimental group (p=0.038). There was a strong positive and significant correlation between the WHO Mucositis Evaluation Scale and the ChIMES scores used in the study. Conclusions: In conclusion, coconut oil oral care in addition to basic oral care in pediatric oncology patients is more effective in reducing the degree of oral mucositis than basic oral care alone. Coconut oil oral care in addition to basic oral care is recommended from the first day of chemotherapy to prevent the development of oral mucositis and promote healing.