Abstract
Objective: To compare the treatment of ORN using a protocol containing antimicrobial photodynamic therapy with a conventional protocol.
Methodology: A retrospective study of 55 patients who had presented with ORN at a reference hospital between 2002 and 2021 and received treatment by two clinical protocols was conducted. Clinical treatment success was defined as the epithelialization of the ORN lesion and absence of painful symptoms and local infection.
Results: The study included 53 ORN lesions with a median ORN development time of 30 months; 83.02% were men, with a median age of 58 years. The main etiologies of ORN included prosthetic trauma (28.30%) and dental extractions caused by infection (32.07%). Satisfactory oral hygiene and lesion hygiene, when compared with the outcome of lesion epithelialization, were found to be protective factors for achieving clinical success (p ≤ 0.0001). ORN developed more rapidly in oral cavity tumors (median of 8 months) than in oropharyngeal tumors (39 months) (p = 0.01).
Conclusion: Compared with the conventional protocol, the proposed protocol demonstrated effectiveness, achieving clinical success in a shorter time in 75% of the analyzed lesions (p ≤ 0.0001). Maintaining oral and lesion hygiene is a protective factor for achieving clinical success. ORN develops more rapidly in oral cavity tumors.