Morphine Mouthwash in Oral Mucositis: A Mini Review

Abstract

Oral mucositis is a frequent adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiation therapy in cancer patients. The mucositis impacts overall quality of life (QoL) by producing pain with variable intensity leading to difficulty in oral intake, lack of sleep, etc. A multimodal therapy is advocated for management of oral mucositis in cancer patients and includes certain preventive and therapeutic interventions aiming at symptom control. The systemic analgesics are frequently used but may be associated various side effects associated with analgesics including opioid. The use of oral submucosal route for opioids has been advocated in view of existence of peripheral opioid receptors for its analgesic property. We review the literature for use of morphine mouthwash for management of painful oral mucosisits.