de Melo Manzi, N., de Campos Pereira Silveira, R.C., & dos Reis, P.E. (2015). Prophylaxis for mucositis induced by ambulatory chemotherapy: Systematic review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72, 735–746.
STUDY PURPOSE: To systematically review evidence regarding interventions used to prevent chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis (OM)
PHASE OF CARE: Active antitumor treatment
Based on this review, the strongest evidence was in favor of cryotherapy in patients receiving 5-FU. The evidence was insufficient in other interventions to demonstrate a benefit.
Very few studies were included, and why this search did not yield a larger number of studies for some of these interventions was unclear. Exclusion criteria may have eliminated many. Most included studies had small sample sizes.
The findings support the use of cryotherapy for the prevention of OM in patients receiving 5-FU. Although not studied extensively, this intervention should have benefit in patients receiving any agent with a short half-life. The amount of ice chips, etc. used and the duration of the cryotherapy varied. Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer guidelines recommend a 30-minute duration and an amount of ice that can easily be moved around in the mouth.