Substantiation of the need for an interdisciplinary approach to the oral mucositis prevention and treatment of patients with head and neck tumors

The use of radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy for malignant tumors of the head and neck, in addition to the therapeutic effect, is often accompanied by various radiation complications. The most common and clinically significant complication is radiation mucositis. The development of radiation mucositis significantly worsens the quality of life of patients, leads to forced interruptions in treatment or a decrease in the radiation dose, which reduces the effectiveness of therapy and the survival of patients.This article presents an analysis of domestic and foreign literature sources (2010 - 2019) on the prevention and treatment of post-radiation oral mucositis in patients with head and neck malignancies. Clinical manifestations of oral mucositis, its influence on the effectiveness of antitumor treatment and the quality of life of patients are described. The main methods of oral mucositis therapy are considered. An effective strategy for timely prevention and treatment of post-radiation oral mucositis in patients with head and neck tumors is a multidisciplinary approach with assessment of the patient's dental status before the start of radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy and dental support during treatment, local exposure on the oral mucosa, low-dose laser therapy and systemic pharmacotherapy.