Effectiveness of Adjunctive Analgesics in Head and Neck Cancer Patients Receiving Curative (Chemo-) Radiotherapy: A Systematic Review. Issue 1 (27th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lefebvre, Tessa; Tack, Laura; Lycke, Michelle; Duprez, Fréderic; Goethals, Laurence; Rottey, Sylvie; Cool, Lieselot; Van Eygen, Koen; Stubbs, Brendon; Schofield, Patricia; Pottel, Hans; Boterberg, Tom; Debruyne, Philip
• Is Part Of: Pain medicine. Volume 22:Issue 1(2021)
• Page Start: 152
• Page End: 164
• Publication Date: 2020-03-27
• Subjects: Adjunctive Analgesics -- Head and Neck Cancer -- (Chemo-) Radiotherapy; Pain -- Periodicals; Pain -- Treatment -- Periodicals; Analgesics -- Periodicals; Pain -- Periodicals; Pain Management -- Periodicals; Douleur -- Périodiques; Douleur -- Traitement -- Périodiques; Analgésiques -- Périodiques; Analgésique; Soulagement de la douleur; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 616.047205
• DOI: 10.1093/pm/pnaa044
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1526-2375

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: Our aim was to give an overview of the effectiveness of adjunctive analgesics in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients receiving (chemo-) radiotherapy. Design: Systematic review. Interventions: This systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for studies concerning "head neck cancer, " "adjunctive analgesics, " "pain, " and "radiotherapy." Outcome Measures: Pain outcome, adverse events, and toxicity and other reported outcomes, for example, mucositis, quality of life, depression, etc. Results: Nine studies were included in our synthesis. Most studies were of low quality and had a high risk of bias on several domains of the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Only two studies comprised high-quality randomized controlled trials in which pregabalin and a doxepin rinse showed their effectiveness for the treatment of neuropathic pain and pain from oral mucositis, respectively, in HNC patients receiving (chemo-) radiotherapy. Conclusions: More high-quality trials are necessary to provide clear evidence on the effectiveness of adjunctive analgesics in the treatment of HNC (chemo-) radiation-induced pain.