%0 Journal Article
%T Pharmacological and Other Interventions for Head and Neck Cancer Pain: a Systematic Review
%A Patrick B. Trotter
%A Lindsey A. Norton
%A Ann S. Loo
%A Jonathan I. Munn
%J Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Research
%D 2012
%I STILUS OPTIMUS
%R 10.5037/jomr.2012.3401
%X Objectives: Pain is a common complication in head and neck cancer. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the evidence from randomised control trials investigating pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods of pain management in head and neck cancer. Material and Methods: Medline, Embase and the Cochrane library databases were searched. Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck excluding nasopharyngeal and salivary gland cancers were included. The limits were ˇ°humanˇ± and ˇ°randomised clinical trialsˇ±. A quality assessment was carried out. Results: 13 studies were included with a total of 644 participants. The primary outcome for most of these papers was pain control post-treatment. Levels of bias varied between the studies. Majority (12 out of the 13 studies) reported intervention to be superior to the control or standard therapy in pain management. Only 46% of the studies were carried out on an intention to treat basis. Two studies reported high dropout rates, with one at 66%. Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence from randomised clinical trials to suggest an optimal pharmacological intervention for head and neck cancer pain post-treatment. Further high quality randomised clinical trials should be conducted to develop an optimal management strategy for head and neck cancer pain.
%K head and neck neoplasms
%K pain
%K postoperative
%K analgesics
%K opioid
%K pain measurement
%K systematic review.
%U http://www.ejomr.org/JOMR/archives/2012/4/e1/v3n4e1ht.htm