Oral Management in Pre-HSCT Patients: An Evaluation of Oral and Systemic Complications

Objective: Hematopoietic stem cells transplant (HSCT) requires being preceded by chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The neutropenia and thrombocytopenia which follows may be the possible cause of post-transplant complications. It is required that the patient undergoing transplantation is eradicated of any possible infectious focus. Currently, a uniform protocol for the oral management of these patients is unavailable. Methods: The approach for the dental management of each patient was designed as a more selective protocol, which was based on the type and size of lesions, symptomatology, and the time available. The samples were divided into three groups, depending on the therapy that was to be performed (selective protocol, radical protocol, and no treatment). The patients were monitored post-HSCT and all the systemic complications that occurred in the first 30 days, 100 days, and 6 months were recorded. Results: In the duration of four years, 159 patients were visited, while only 139 of these underwent HSCT. No statistically significant differences were observed in the systemic complications post HSCT among the three groups. Conclusions: The results of the present study demonstrated that there was no difference between radical dental management and a more conservative one in regard to the onset of infectious complications post HSCT. The present study also aimed to provide a novel approach for the oral management of these patients as the conditioning regimen followed was less myeloablative compared to those followed in the past.