Effect of different nursing interventions on neck skin damage and emotion of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

ObjectiveTo investigate the protective effects of new soft silicone foam dressing Mepilex Lite and Kangfuxin solution on neck skin injury and its effects on emotion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC) patients treated with radiotherapy.

MethodsFifty-four NPC patients treated with radiotherapy were randomly divided into the control group(Mepilex group) and observation group(Kangfuxin group) (27 cases in each group).The control group and observation group were nursed with Kangfuxin solution and Mepilex Lite after 2 d of radiotherapy.The degree of neck skin injury, wound healing time, wound healing proportion, SDS score and SAS score before and after intervention were compared between two groups.

ResultsThere was statistical significance in the skin injury between two groups(P < 0.05).The healing time and rate of skin wound in observation group were significantly less and higher than those in control group, respectively(P < 0.01).Before intervention, the differences of the scores of SAS and SDS between two groups were not statistically significant(P>0.05).After intervention, the scores of SAS and SDS in two groups decreased compared with before inervention(P < 0.05), and the scores of SAS and SDS in observation group were lower than those in control group(P < 0.05).

ConclusionsThe application of Mepilex Lite can significantly reduce the degree of neck skin injury caused by radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, shorten the healing time of wound surface, and relieve the anxiety and depression of patients, which is worthy of clinical promotion.