According to studies, adverse reactions such as decreased appetite and anorexia in patients can be caused by chemotherapy drugs[10]. This can result in reduced secretion of digestive fluids, increased concentration of oral saliva, and reduced self-cleaning ability of oral mucosa[11]. At the same time, chemotherapy drugs can also have inhibitory and killing effects on oral mucosa, directly affecting the regeneration, maturation, and repair of mucosal cells[10]. This can cause dry oral mucosa, reduced self-cleaning ability, and rapid bacterial reproduction, leading to fermentation and decay of food residues[1, 10, 11]. The production of amine substances and anti-inflammatory thiocyanate can cause ulceration and erosion[12]. A large amount of acidic substances produced in the oral cavity can act on the ulcer display, causing the wound to be prolonged and affecting the patient’s diet, immune function, and forming a vicious cycle[13–15].
Currently, physiological saline mouthwash is the commonly used treatment method for oral mucositis in clinical practice[16]. It can reduce the residual amount of food in the oral cavity, avoid the reproduction of bacteria in the oral cavity, and also keep the oral cavity in a normal physiological environment, relieve the dryness of the mouth caused by reduced saliva secretion[6, 7, 16]. However, it has no antibacterial effect and the therapeutic effect on oral ulcers is not good[11, 16]. Lidocaine mouthwash is often used to treat oral pain, which can achieve the effect of local analgesia[17]. Lidocaine is an amide local anesthetic with strong penetration, good diffusion, rapid onset, long duration of action, and good analgesic effect[17]. However, lidocaine cannot promote the repair of oral mucositis and has poor therapeutic effect on oral ulcers, which has great disadvantages[15–17]. Therefore, our hospital combined with clinical experience, used frozen KFX liquid for gargling, and supervised patients with autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation after radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which showed a promising effect.
KFX liquid is a traditional Chinese medicine biological preparation extracted from the dried whole body of American cockroaches[18–20]. The extract contains amino acids, peptides and other main bioactive substances, which can help tissue cells repair, accelerate the improvement of vascular function, accelerate the generation of new tissue in the wound, regulate the immune system, and enhance immunity[18, 19, 21]. KFX liquid has the effect of accelerating the healing of body ulcers, can regulate blood circulation, nourish and generate muscles, improve the microcirculation of the wound, effectively accelerate the proliferation of granulation tissue, promote the growth of damaged tissue epidermis, promote the detachment of necrotic tissue, and can relieve the symptoms of oral mucositis, reduce the redness and swelling and pain of oral mucosa, increase the blood supply to the damaged area, create a good environment for the repair of ulcer wounds, and improve the condition of oral ulcers[18, 19, 21]. Under low-temperature conditions, patients’ blood vessels will contract, oral blood flow will decrease, tissue temperature will decrease, and the spread of inflammatory reactions will be inhibited. Statistical results show that after intervention in the experimental group, the use of frozen KFX gargle can effectively prevent and delay the occurrence of oral mucositis, and can effectively relieve oral pain, thereby improving the quality of life of patients. The reason for the analysis is that ice cubes are easier to obtain and patients can accept them. Therefore, guiding patients to use frozen KFX mouthwash during autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is an economical, safe, and effective treatment method.
In summary, the frozen KFX liquid gargle used by our research institute can effectively prevent and delay the occurrence of oral mucositis, relieve oral pain, promote the repair of ulcer wounds, improve the immune function of patients, and improve the quality of life of patients. This study still has some shortcomings, such as small sample size and lack of representativeness of data. However, future research still needs to further increase the sample size to conduct multicenter studies to verify the effectiveness of this method and improve the overall effect of oral care.