中医药治疗鼻咽癌放疗后口干燥症的初步调查

目的观察鼻咽癌放疗后口腔黏膜干燥症对患者日常生存的影响以及中医药干预疗法的疗效。方法放疗后满1年的鼻咽癌患者69例，采用口干问卷法进行相关症候调查，分析口腔黏膜干燥症的严重程度及其对患者生存质量的影响，并探讨中医药干预疗法对口腔黏膜干燥症的疗效。结果69例患者均有不同程度的口腔黏膜干燥症表现，而中药干预组与对照组比较，其间的VAS评分差异具有统计学意义。结论鼻咽癌放疗后口腔黏膜干燥症对患者的生存质量有严重影响，患牙病机率明显增加，系统服用中药可以减轻相关症状，提高患者生存质量。

Survey on the clinical implications of xerostomia occurred following radiotherapy among the patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and the therapeutic effect of herbal medicines on this lesion

Objective To investigate the clinical implications of xerostomia occurred following radiotherapy for the patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma （NPC） and the therapeutic effect of Chinese herbal medicines on this lesion based on a questionnaire survey. Methods Included in this study were 69 NPC cases with their lesion treated by radiotherapy before one year, and they were surveyed with a questionnaire specially designed for the condition of xerostomia during the interview at the outpatient clinic or assayed by telephone to collect all the associated clinical manifestations of xerostomia and xerostomia-related problems with radiotherapy from them with the visual analogue scale （VAS） issued. Then, careful analysis was made to survey the severity of xerostomia and its impact on the quality of life among these patients, followed is to explore the therapeutic effect of Chinese herbal medicine therapy on the lesion of these cases with a comparison with those without such a therapy received. Results All these 69 cases showed the condition of xerostomia at various degrees, with 53.6% of these patients experienced a moderate to severe degree. Furthermore, there were a significant difference in the scales of VAS when compared between the two groups, for which the Chinese herbal medicines taken consistently or not. Conclusions It can be concluded from the survey that xerostomia occurred following radiotherapy among the patients with NPC will give rise much significant impact on the quality of life among these cases, such as those with speech, deglutition, sleep and the morbidity rate of the tooth. Chinese herbal medicine therapy can release the degree of dry mouth and improve the quality of life among the patients with NPC treated by radiotherapy when used consistently.