Treatment of radiation side effects with oral pilocarpine

✍ Scribed by David E. Schuller; Philip Stevens; Kathryn P. Clausen; John Olsen; Reinhard Gahbauer; Melanie Martin

• Book ID: 102440514
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 432 KB
• Volume: 42
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-4790
• DOI: 10.1002/jso.2930420414

✦ Synopsis

Radiation therapy is commonly utilized either alone or in combination with surgery in the treatment of malignancies arising in the upper aerodigestive tract. Frequent post-treatment sequelae include xerostomia, dysgeusia, and dysphagia. Numerous commercial products designed to decrease these syniptoms have not been uniformly successful. This pilot study was designed to evaluate prospectively oral pilocarpine as a means of stimulating minor and major salivary gland flow to eradicate these radiation-induced symptoms. The results of this pilot study support the hypothesis that the salivary glands are capable of responding to oral pilocarpine, and this therapeutic approach warrants further study.