ArticleBMC complementary medicine and therapies2025
The effect of different mouthwashes to prevent oral mucositis in patients with radiotherapy and chemotherapy: a network meta-analysis.
Article in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy of acupuncture in managing radiotherapy/chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Phytochemistry, Bioavailability, and Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Multitarget Anticancer Activity ofNutrients · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOral mucositis (OM), as a common adverse effect in patients with chemotherapies, affects the convalescent quality of life. Currently, an increasing number of mouthwashes have been used to improve the incidence of OM in patients undergoing with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Most studies are comparisons of two arms or three groups, resulting in the lack of direct comparative trial evidence for all care fluids.Therefore, it is not clear which mouthwash is better for preventing the occurrence of OM in patients. This study compares the preventive effects of13 mouthwashes currently used to treat OM in different countries.
methodsA computerized search was performed for randomized controlled trials on the use of mouthwash to prevent OM published in databases, such as PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure until April 2023. Two investigators used the Cochrane manual to perform a bias risk assessment of the included RCTs and RevMan5.3 to plot the risk bias. Then, a network meta-analysis of the obtained data was performed using Stata 16.2 software.
resultsA total of 36 randomized controlled trials were included. In the network meta-analysis, the effect of 13 mouthwashes to prevent the occurrence of OM were ranked according to the size of the surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) probability curve value, from best to worst were: aloe vera juice, Chinese herbal medicine, Bing Peng San, honey, Lactobacterium shorti, chamomile, riboflavin, rehabilitation solution, benzydamine, turmeric, aluminum sulfide, povidone-iodine, and chlorhexidine.
conclusionAccording to the SUCRA ranking results, aloe juice can better prevent OM in other chemoradiotherapy patients than other oral mouthwashes. However, this conclusion still needs to be further verified by randomized controlled trials with a larger sample. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.