Drug treatment for oral submucous fibrosis: an update

Abstract

Objective The aim of this review is to evaluate the different medicinal interventions available for the management of oral submucous fibrosis (OSF). Materials and methods We conducted a comprehensive electronic search on PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases for articles related to OSF patients treated with medications from December 2011 to September 2022. GRADE system was used to evaluate the evidence quality. The reporting of the systematic review is in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. The main outcomes were the improvement of maximum mouth opening, burning sensation, cheek flexibility, and tongue protrusion. Results Twenty-nine randomized controlled trials (RCTs), five clinical trials (CCTs) were included, and the use of drugs for OSF treatment were evaluated. Drugs like steroids, hyaluronidase, pentoxifylline, lycopene, curcumin, dpirulina, aloe vera, omega3, oxitard, allicin, colchicine have been used. It was found that drugs with evidence high quality were salvia miltiorrhiza combined with triamcinolone acetonide, lycopene, pentoxifylline, curcumin, and aloe vera, and those with evidence moderate quality were allicin, colchicine, omega 3, and oxitard. Conclusion Based on the results of our comprehensive analysis, for long-term treatment, we found lycopene with low side effects, whereas for relieving the symptoms of severe burning sensation, aloe vera is the most effective. Although the recent review has made some progress, drug therapy for OSF remains unclear, and more high-quality RCTs are needed to identify better treatments for OSF.

A scientometric study on research trends and characteristics of oral submucous fibrosis

“…The trend of clinical aspects of surgery and mouth hygiene before 2015 has changed to the aspects of adverse event/effects, complication, and quality of life after 2015. 17 , 18 , 19 …”

Development of Epigallocatechin 3-gallate-Loaded Hydrogel Nanocomposites for Oral Submucous Fibrosis

“…Among various causative factors, chewing areca nut plays an important role in the progression of OSF [1,2]. The arecoline, the major component in areca, penetrates through the oral mucosal epithelial membrane and interacts with connective tissue components, thus inducing the proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen concentration enhancement by disturbing collagen synthesis and degradation [1,3]. The habit control, physiotherapy, drugs, laser treatment, nutritional and surgical intervention are options for treating OSF [4,5].…”