Submitted July 14, 2006
Accepted October 10, 2006
Low power laser in the prevention of induced oral mucositis in bone marrow transplantation patients: a randomized trial
Heliton Spindola Antunes*, Alexandre Melo de Azevedo, Luiz Fernando da Silva Bouzas, Carlos Alberto Esteves Adao, Claudia Tereza Pinheiro, Renato Mayhe, Lucia Helena Pinheiro, Renato Azevedo, Valkiria D'Aiuto de Matos, Pedro Carvalho Rodrigues, Isabele Avila Small, Renato Amaro Zangaro, and Carlos Gil Ferreira
Instituto Nacional de Cancer, Brazil
Universidade do Vale do Paraiba, Brazil
* Corresponding author; email: hspindola{at}inca.gov.br.
We investigated the clinical effects of low power laser therapy (LPLT) on prevention and reduction of severity of conditioning-induced oral mucositis (OM) for hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Were randomized 38 patients submitted to autologous (AT) or allogeneic (AL) HSCT. An diode InGaAlP was used emiting light at 660 nm, 50 mW and 4 J/cm2 measured at the end of fiberoptic with 0.196cm2 of section area. The evaluation of OM was done by OMAS and WHO scale. In the LPLT group 94.7% of patients had OM (WHO) Grade 
2, including 63.2% with Grade 0 and 1, whereas in the controls group 31.5% of patients had OM Grade 2 (p<0.001). Remarkably the HR for grade 2, 3 and 4 OM was 0.41 (0.22-0.75, p = 0.002) and for grade 3 and 4 was 0.07 (0.11-0.53, p<0.000). Using OMAS by the calculation of ulcerous area, 5.3% of laser group presented ulcerous of 9.1 to 18 cm2, whereas 73.6% of the control group presented ulcers from 9.1 to 18 cm2 (p=0.003). Our results indicate that the use of upfront LPLT in HSCT patients is a powerful instrument in reducing the incidence of OM and is now standard in our center.
