Prevention and the treatment of oral mucositis: the efficacy of sodium bicarbonate vs other agents: a systematic review

Abstract Introduction Oral mucositis (OM) is a major side effect of cancer therapy, which is associated with significant symptoms, treatment delays and increased costs for the health system. It is an important component of the quality of life of cancer patients and, until now, there has been no gold standard regarding prevention or treatment of this pathology. Notwithstanding the paucity of treatment guidelines (due to limited evidence from high-quality, rigorous studies), sodium bicarbonate (SB) rinses are one of the most used agents for OM management. Objectives A systematic review (2000–2022) was performed in order to compare and examine different agents versus sodium bicarbonate (SB) in…