Abstract :
Introduction and objective: The present study was undertaken to assess the Dysphagia and pain intensity
among patients undergoing chemoradiotherapy.
Materials and Methods: This was a prospective comparative study conducted from March 2009 to August
2010. A total of 109 patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer were included in the study. The placebo
group received sham treatment wh ereas Laser group patients were treated with Low Level Helium-Neon
Laser at 6 anatomical sites in the oral cavity prior to Radiotherapy for 45 days. Severity of Dysphagia was
assessed daily using Functional Impairment Scale (FIS). Patients were asked for the type of food they were
able to take and related difficulty in swallowing that food. Severity of Oral Pain was assessed each day of
treatment using The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) 0 to 10 and Verbal scale were used to describe their pain
in terms of various levels and these values were coded for statistical analysis. SPSS 18.0 version was used
for statistical analysis.
Results: All the patients were above 40 years of age in laser and placebo group respectively. Nearly 3/4th of
the patients developed a mild degree of dysphagia by the end of first week. At the completion of treatment,
44% of the patients in the study arm had grade 4 dysphagia, compared to 60% in the placebo arm. As
per the pain, there was a steady increase in the VAS scores from 2nd week onwards. At the completion of
treatment, 50% of the patients in the control arm had pain scores more than or equal to 7, while only 16%
in the study arm had severe pain. Both the tools revealed statistically significant results, with the patients in
the laser arm experiencing much lower pain during the course of treatment when compared to the placebo
arm.
Conclusion: The Laser group experienced less pain and dysphagia while on treatment, compared to the
placebo arm. The difference was statistically significant.
Keyword :
Dysphagia, Pain Intensity, Visual Analogue Scale, Functional Impairment Scale, Laser therapy.