الفهرس 
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Abstract
Oral mucositis is one of the most common debilitating side effects of head and neck cancer treatments. It occurs in the majority of patients receiving radiotherapy as definitive or adjuvant therapy. Though many interventions have been studied rigorously, up to this day a definitive mean of prevention and management is still lacking.
Olive oil is one of the most powerful nutraceuticals available as it has a plethora of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and wound healing properties, all of which seem desirable and promising in the battle against oral mucositis.
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of topically applied olive oil in the prevention and management of oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients receiving radiotherapy.
The present study entailed 20 patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer and scheduled to receive radiotherapy treatment as definitive or adjunctive treatment modality. Patients were divided into 2 groups; group I (intervention) included 10 patients treated with topically applied olive oil. group II (control) included 10 patients treated sodium bicarbonate mouthwash.
Clinical parameters including WHO mucositis scale and NRS pain score were recorded at 2 weeks (FU1), 4 weeks (FU2) and 6 weeks (FU3) at the end of treatment. Moreover, saliva samples were collected for biochemical
analysis (measuring the total antioxidant capacity) before treatment and after treatment cessation.
Our results showed statistically significant difference between groups in the severity of oral mucositis grades. Regarding WHO oral mucositis scores, a statistically significant reduction occurred in the group receiving olive oil. Oral mucositis was also prevented in this group as the majority of this group scored (WHO grade 0) most of the time meaning that they did not suffer from oral mucositis. As for the second parameter which was the NRS pain score, it was revealed that statistically significant difference between the groups occurred during all follow ups where the olive oil group experienced lower intensity pain than the control.
Finally, regarding the biochemical analysis, the first group receiving olive oil had higher total antioxidant capacity than the control group before treatment. The total antioxidant capacity after treatment decreased significantly in the olive oil group, whereas it increased in the control group, however the difference between groups was not statistically significant.