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Gastrointestinal Tract

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Pediatric Oncology Nursing

Part of the book series: Pediatric Oncology ((PEDIATRICO))

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Abstract

The mucosal lining of the GI tract, including the oral mucosal, is a prime target for treatment-related toxic-ity by virtue of its rapid cell turnover rate. Mucositis is an inflammation of the oral mucosa. Breakdown of the mucosal barrier can predispose patients to potentially fatal systemic infection. The estimated rates of the incidence of oral mucositis from standard multicycle chemotherapy for solid tumors range from 25 to 33%, and rise to nearly 100% in hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients (Sonis 2007). Chemotherapeu-tic agents differ in their potential for causing mucosi-tis. Mucositis can also vary in intensity of pain and discomfort. Several grading systems have been developed to rate this common toxicity to cancer therapy. The World Health Organization (WHO) Mucositis Scale (Table 18.1) is a commonly used objective scale and The Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS) (Table 18.2) is a commonly used subjective scale.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Haematology/Oncology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Anne Marie Maloney

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  1. Anne Marie Maloney
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dip Cancer Nursing, Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Hospital for Sick Children, Child Health Evaluative, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Deborah Tomlinson

  2. Department of Nursing, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

    Nancy E. Kline (Director, Research and Evidence-Based Practice) (Director, Research and Evidence-Based Practice)

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Maloney, A.M. (2010). Gastrointestinal Tract. In: Tomlinson, D., Kline, N.E. (eds) Pediatric Oncology Nursing. Pediatric Oncology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87984-8_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87984-8_18

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