Introduction:

Head and neck cancer is the seventh most common cancer worldwide. Therapeutic options for its management include radiotherapy, which should seek a balance between tumor elimination and preservation of healthy tissue because its application implies the risk of developing osteoradionecrosis of the jaws.

Objective:

To assess whether the risk of developing osteoradionecrosis of the jaws varies according to the type of radiotherapy.

Methods

: Documentary, retrospective design based on the principles of exploratory systematic reviews as established by the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist. PubMed, LILACS, ScienceDirect, Tripdatabase and Epistemonikos were searched in English and Spanish.

Results:

In total, 12 studies published between 2016 and 2022 with various research designs were included; the retrospective cohort study had the highest representation. Different radiotherapy options and their protocols were analyzed, including intensity-modulated radiotherapy, intensity-modulated proton therapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, and three-dimensional radiotherapy. The literature refers that protocols involving lower total doses represent a lower risk of osteoradionecrosis.

Conclusions:

The risk of osteoradionecrosis of the jaws should be attributed, to a greater extent, to the total radiation dose received by the patient and the dose per fraction than to the type of radiotherapy.

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