Effect of zinc on oropharyngeal mucositis in children with acute leukemia undergoing chemotherapy

• Rosaura Gutiérrez-Vargas ^[1] ; Miguel Ángel Villasis-Keever ^[3] ; Javier Portilla-Robertson ^[1] ; Ivan De Jesús Ascencio-Montiel ^[2] ; Marta Zapata-Tarrés ^[4]
  1. [1] Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

     Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

     México

     
  2. [2] Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social

     Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social

     México

     
  3. [3] Research Unit in Analysis and Synthesis of Evidence. High Specialty Medical, Hospital of Pediatrics. XXI Century National Medical Center. Mexican Social Security Institute
  4. [4] Department of Medical Oncology, National Institute of Pediatrics, Health Secretary. Research Coordination, Fundación IMSS, A.C. 

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• Localización: Medicina oral, patología oral y cirugía bucal. Ed. inglesa, ISSN-e 1698-6946, Vol. 25, Nº. 6 (November), 2020
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Oropharyngeal mucositis (OM) is one of the main side-effects of oncological therapy. There is no treatment to prevent its occurrence, but some zinc-based therapies have been proven to help in decreasing its intensity. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of zinc in OM in children with acute leukemia in the early stages of oncological treatment.

    This quasi-experimental study evaluated OM in 2 groups (control group: conventional hospital management, and experimental group: administration of 50 mg of zinc gluconate daily plus conventional hospital management). OM severity was recorded at a two-month follow-up.

    Forty-nine patients (26 in the control group and 23 in the experimental group) were included. The mean age of the patients was 11.1 ± 2.7 years; 65.3% had a diagnosis of pre-B acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The incidences of OM in the control group and the experimental group were 46.2% and 26.1%, respectively, but the difference was not significant. Based on a negative binomial regression model, females had, on average, 1.5 more days with OM (p = 0.002), and patients assigned to the experimental group had, on average, 2 less days with OM than the control group (p = 0.001). The pain score was higher in the control group (p = 0.0009), as was the mean score on the WHO scale (p = 0.0012).

    Zinc facilitated a reduction in the severity and duration of OM; further studies focusing on children are needed to confirm the effects of this trace element.