Abstract
Purpose to investigate the occurrence, time of onset, and associated factors of oral alterations in hemato-oncologic patients throughout their hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).Methods This longitudinal cohort study involved 30 patients receiving care at a bone marrow transplantation service in a Brazilian hospital. Data about oral physical examination, diagnosis of hematological disorder, transplant type, comorbidities, chemotherapy protocols, and oral risk factors were collected. Survival analysis was performed to estimate the onset time of oral alterations and investigate possible associations with risk factors. The significance level adopted was 5%.Results Most patients were male (57.7%), with a median age of 35 years, 93.3% developed oral alterations, and 53.3% presented local risk factors. Leukemias and multiple myeloma were the most common hematologic disorders (23.3%). FluBuMel was the most frequent conditioning protocol (46.7%). Buccal mucosa edema (83.3%) was the most common oral alteration, followed by oral mucositis (80%; grade 1: 54.2%). The mean follow-up time was 23 days, with the probability of the patient being free of oral alterations decreasing as time progressed. Mel200 protocol (HR 2.89; IC 0.04–1.02; p = 0.020), and autologous transplant (HR 3.41; CI 1.28–9.07; p = 0.004) were associated with an earlier occurrence of oral alterations, while allogenic related transplant was a protective factor (HR 0.48; CI 0.22–1.07; p = 0.040).Conclusion results indicate that the time of onset of oral alterations is affected by transplant type and conditioning protocol and suggest that the severity of the alterations is positively affected by the presence of dentists in the HSCT team.