Incidence of mandibular osteoradionecrosis (MORN) after intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) versus 3D conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT): A systematic review.

BACKGROUND

Analyze the incidence of MORN after head and neck radiotherapy by two novel irradiation techniques, 3DCRT and IMRT and compare the success rates of distinct authors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An electronic search in Pubmed (MEDLINE), Ovid, Google Scholar and Cochrane Library (Wiley), databases was conducted with the key words "Radiotherapy, Conformal"[Mesh] OR "Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated"[Mesh]) AND "Osteoradionecrosis"[Mesh] for all databases. The inclusion criteria randomized controlled trials (RCT), as well as prospective and retrospective cohort studies published in English; MORN patients treated with 3D-CRT y IMRT.

RESULTS

27 articles were selected from 194 initially found. 14 articles out of 27 were excluded and finally included 8 publications were included in the systematic review that were ranked according to their level of scientific evidence using the SORT criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

When both RT techniques were compared; IMRT revealed a lower risk incidence of MORN development and enhanced dose constraint than 3D-CRT (less than 10%), this improvement could translate into less complications post RT treatment.