Quality of Life Changes in Patients with Osteoradionecrosis and Their Measurement

Abstract

One of the most serious and debilitating complications of radiation therapy (RT) for patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) is osteoradionecrosis of the jaws (ORNJ). ORNJ is defined as radiation-induced ischemic bone necrosis with soft tissue necrosis in the absence of primary tumor, recurrence, or metastatic disease. Even though the incidence of ORNJ has dropped from about 20% to 2–8% as a result of recent advancements in RT techniques, this serious complication is still very challenging to predict, prevent, and treat. It is beyond dispute that ORNJ has detrimental effects on patients' quality of life (QoL). Pain, halitosis, taste disturbance, dysesthesia or anesthesia, trismus, difficulty chewing, swallowing, feeding, and speaking, fistula formation, pathological fracture, and localized or systemic infections are the most frequent symptoms of ORNJ that have an impact on the victim's QoL measures. However, ORNJ-specific QoL studies are scarce in this patient group despite ORNJ's significant harmful effects on the sufferers' physical appearance and functions, mood, and social relationships. By providing readily available information about the physical, social, and emotional effects of ORNJ as measured by general or HNC-specific QoL surveys, this review article aims to serve as a foundation for future studies addressing novel ORNJ-specific questionnaires.