Assessment of the Risk Factors for Aspiration Pneumonia During Chemoradiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer

Abstract

Aspiration pneumonia is a common complication during the management of head and neck cancer, especially with chemoradiotherapy (CRT)． Once aspiration pneumonia develops, it can lead to the deterioration of the general condition of the patient and forced interruption of therapy. Thus, the early detection and management of aspiration pneumonia is important. In this retrospective study, 121 patients who were hospitalized to undergo CRT for head and neck cancers in our department between 2010 and 2016 were divided into two groups: the aspiration pneumonia group and a control group. The purpose of this study was to identify the risk factors related to the onset of aspiration pneumonia. We compared the two groups with respect to 14 variables, including the patients’ age and sex. We identified five significant risk factors: multiple cancers, pre-treatment anemia, sleeping-pill use, high Brinkman index, and a low albumin level. It is important to establish the risk of aspiration pneumonia in patients with head and neck cancers before CRT is administered. The swallowing function should be assessed, especially in high-risk patients, and aspiration pneumonia should be prevented by swallowing rehabilitation and alternative methods of food preparation during hospitalization.