Development of Oral Mucositis in Patients in The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Aim: To evaluate the development of oral mucositis in patients admitted in the pediatric intensive care unit.

Method: Descriptive research was carried out by retrospectively scanning files of 181 children, who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) of a university hospital in Istanbul between January and December, 2015. Rather than sampling, the whole population was included in the research. The data was extracted from patient files by the researchers.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.69±3.29 months, 37.5% of the patients were treated in ICU because of respiratory system diseases, 92.2% could not manage oral feeding, 86.1% received oxygen therapy, and 77.3% received steroid treatment. Oral mucositis developed in 2.7% of patients, three patients fully recovered from oral mucositis before discharge from the ICU, and two patients were discharged with phase 1 oral mucositis.

Conclusion: lthough risk factors are prevalent in the ICU, the rate of oral mucositis was low among our patients.