Evidence summary for holistic nursing management of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer

To systematically retrieve the relevant guidelines, clinical practices, and consensus statements for the management of radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer and integrate the evidence to provide a scientific reference for holistic nursing management. Following the “6S” model, relevant evidence on RTOM management was collected from clinical decision support systems, websites of professional associations, domestic and international guideline websites, and databases. The search timeframe spanned from database inception to March 2025. Two researchers independently conducted methodological quality evaluation, evidence extraction, and integration of the included documents. A total of 13 documents were included, comprising 5 guidelines, 6 expert consensus statements, and 2 evidence summaries. The final evidence was summarized across 5 themes, including screening and assessment, patient education, preventive measures, comprehensive symptom management strategies, and follow-up evaluation, resulting in 18 subthemes and 68 evidence items. This evidence summary provides a structured basis for holistic RTOM management in patients with HNC receiving radiotherapy. Higher-level evidence mainly supported basic oral assessment, dietary guidance, selected preventive and therapeutic interventions, radiotherapy technique-related prevention, nutritional support, and pain management. Evidence should be applied according to patients’ risk level, symptom severity, treatment phase, clinical context, resource availability, and preferences to support the development of standardized RTOM management pathways.