Osteoradionecrosis

It has long been recognized that patients who receive radiotherapy for cancer of the head and neck area are at a risk of developing osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaws. Guidelines to reduce risk have been written, based upon the evidence of many studies which have looked at the incidence of ORN in different groups. Much of the research was carried out over 20 years ago and more recent analysis of data and consideration of the changes in radiotherapy raises the question as to whether modifications to the guidance is now needed. There is a wide variation in recommendations and a simpler, more unified approach to prevention of ORN could be developed as well as research on recent management techniques. Definition: Osteoradionecrosis is defined as an area of bone tissue exposed to radiation that fails to heal over a period of 3 months without a residual or recurrent tumor (Sukh S Ryatt et al., 2007).