Nursing strategies of myelosuppression caused by induction chemotherapy for stage III and stage IV laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers

Abstract

Objective To study the clinical observation and nursing strategies for myelosuppression caused by induction chemotherapy for stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅳ laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers. Methods The clinical data of 8 patients admitted during March 2015 to June 2017 who developed myelosuppression after induction chemotherapy using taxol + cisplatin + fluorouracil (TPF) were retrospectively analyzed for nursing strategies. Key nursing strategies included in the analysis were basic care, psychological care, condition observation and monitoring, medication care, infection prevention, infection management, prevention and treatment of anemia and bleeding, diet care and activity care. Results After induction chemotherapy, 8 out of 15 (53.33%) stage Ⅲ and stage Ⅳ laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer patients developed myelosuppression, among which 3 patients showedⅢ-Ⅳ degree myelosuppression. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (CSF) was administered by intramuscular injection to manage reduced granulocyte level in 2 cases. The granulocyte level in both patients went back to normal after 3-5 days. Platelet and recombinant human thrombopoietin were administered by intravenous injection to manage reduced platelet in 1 case. The platelet level of the patient started to increase after 3 days. All patients successfully recovered from myelosuppression before being discharged. Conclusions For stageⅢ and stageⅣ laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer patients who developed myelosuppression after chemotherapy, enhanced basic care, psychological care and close observation of condition developments are essential to the patients' smooth recovery from myelosuppression. Key words: Nursing care; Laryngeal neoplasms; Otorhinolaryngologic neoplasms; Induction chemotherapy; Myelosuppression