[Effects of oral health care for lung cancer patients with surgery--improvement of cough reflex].

The number of lung cancer patients is increasing. One complication of particular concern after surgery for lung cancer is postoperative pneumonia. The present study examined the various effects of oral care cough reflexes (cough reflex test), oral health conditions (OAG and face scale), and immune function (NK cell activity) in patients who underwent surgery for lung cancer. Subjects included 60 patients aged 75 years old or younger who were scheduled to undergo surgery for stage I lung cancer. The average age was 65.3 +/- 6.0 years old. We randomly divided the subjects into an oral care group and a control group. In the oral care group, we observed a significant increase in the normal rate of cough reflex test postsurgery, relative to pre-surgery. In contrast, no significant change in the normal rate of cough reflex test was noted for patients in the control group. Oral health conditions showed similar results. While we observed no significant change in NK cell activity from between pre-surgery and post-surgery in the oral care group, we did note a significant decrease in the control group. Two cases of pneumonia after surgery were identified in the control group. The oral care group did not get postoperative pneumonia. Thus, it was shown that oral care is related to cough reflex, oral health conditions, and immune function.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes