Local Anesthetic Treatment of Oral Pain in Patients With Mucositis

Clinical Trial With Lozenges as Local Anesthetic Treatment for Head/Neck Cancer Patients With Oral Mucositis

Oral mucositis is a damage to the mucosa of the oral cavity and pharynx. It is a serious and painful adverse effect caused by the radio therapy and/or chemo therapy patients with head and neck cancer receive. The pain caused by oral mucositis can be difficult to treat as the current treatment with opioids is not sufficient and can cause adverse effects.

Our hypothesis is that treatment with a local anesthetic lozenge with bupivacaine can reduce the oral pain caused by mucositis compared with the current standard treatment.

Inclusion Criteria:

• diagnosed with head/neck cancer and starting radio therapy treatment
• age between 18 and 80 years (both included)
• able to talk, read and understand Danish
• ability to give informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• known hypersensitivity towards bupivacaine or other local anesthetics of the amide type
• pregnancy
• women breastfeeding a child