Bottleneck issues and conceptual barriers of oral cancer rehabilitation

Abstract

Oral cancer and its treatment have major implications on a patient, including physical as well as psychological barriers to a patient's life which can significantly hinder a patient's rehabilitation process. Surgical interventions along with chemotherapy can cause major psychological and physical distress to a patient. Thereupon it is important to understand these issues so that they can be treated and rehabilitated smoothly and successfully. Major databases including- ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar were searched, and relevant peer reviewed papers and articles were extracted for the review, furthermore, reference screening was also conducted. Some of the physical issues involved mucositis, facial aesthetics impairment, voice impairment, reduced mobility of lips, tongue and overall buccal region, which lead to psychological issues including depression, eating disorders, anxiety, public avoidance, social isolation and so on. Effective rehabilitation of the patients is essential as it will predict their quality of life thus helping them return to their normal functioning after treatment. Large sample empirical studies are required to test the effectiveness of various psychotherapies used to alleviate these bottleneck issues and focus should be given on improving the patient's psychological quality of life.