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Patient‐reported side effects from liquid formulation of pentoxifylline and tocopherol in head and neck radiotherapy patients: an institutional experience and retrospective analysis
Author(s) -
Patel V.,
Young H.,
White T.,
McGurk M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
oral surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.156
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1752-248X
pISSN - 1752-2471
DOI - 10.1111/ors.12337
Subject(s) - medicine , pentoxifylline , dysphagia , trismus , nausea , retrospective cohort study , surgery , swallowing , vomiting , osteoradionecrosis , complication , side effect (computer science) , radiation therapy , computer science , programming language
Aim Osteoradionecrosis ( ORN ) is a well‐recognised complication of head and neck radiotherapy. There is growing evidence that the use of pentoxifylline and tocopherol ( PV e) is effective in managing established jaw necrosis and there is also early evidence for its use prophylactically to aid healing. The cohort of patients being prescribed these medications have radiation‐related problems such as dysphagia, xerostomia and trismus which means that swallowing large and multiple tablets is difficult or impossible. In such a situation, the solution is to prescribe liquid formulation of medications. Unfortunately, there is no commercial liquid formulation for pentoxifylline and so crushing the tablets and dissolving them in water produces an ad hoc form. The aim of this retrospective review was to determine patient‐reported side effects based on a named‐patient liquid formulation of pentoxifylline and liquid tocopherol. Method A total of 43 patients were prescribed liquid formulation of pentoxifylline and liquid tocopherol for either established ORN or as prophylaxis against ORN for a dental extraction. The dental records were retrospectively reviewed and assessed for side effects reported by the patient. Results Dysphagia was the most common indication for the prescription of liquid PV e (34/43 patients). Gastric irritation was reported in 2/43 (4.6%) patients while general side effects (nausea, malaise, vomiting) were reported in 11.6% (5/43) patients. Conclusion In comparison to other trials and studies reporting PV e side effects, this retrospective review did not appear to show a higher incidence when using the current manufactured liquid formulation of PV e.