Aims: To evaluate the effect of pregabalin on radiotherapy-induced trismus in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a hospital-based, clinical retrospective cohort study was conducted.
Materials and methods: Data were collected on patients diagnosed with radiotherapy-induced trismus from March 2014 and March 2016 in the department of neurology in our hospital. Patients in the treatment group were administrated pregabalin for 8 weeks combined with rehabilitation, while the control group only received rehabilitation. The clinical therapeutic effects were observed and evaluated by mandibular motion, severity of trismus measured by late effects of normal tissues/subjective and objective medical analysis (LENT/SOMA) scales, and quality of life (QOL) assessed using the World Health Organization QOL instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) at baseline, week 4 and week 8 during treatment in these two groups, respectively.
Results: In the treatment group, the number of patients with improvement on maximal vertical dimension (MVD) was significantly more than controls at week 4 and week 8 (P=0.013, P=0.004, respectively). Moreover, at week 4 and week 8, the severity of trismus was both significantly improved on LENT/SOMA grade in treatment group (P=0.047, P=0.032, respectively). And at week 8, the physical health and the whole life domain of the WHOQOL-BREF score were significantly increased (P=0.037, P=0.034, respectively). In the treatment group, 11 patients (36.7%) presented dizziness, and 7 patients (23.3%) presented somnolence.
Conclusions: Administration of pregabalin, in adjunct to rehabilitation, might provide a better outcome in patients with radiotherapy-induced trismus.
Keywords: Clinical study; Mandibular motion; Pregabalin; Quality of life; Radiotherapy-induced trismus.
Copyright © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.. All rights reserved.