Background: Oral mucositis (OM) is a debilitating side-effect of chemotherapy. It has different complications,
including impairment of drinking, eating and even talking, sometimes so severe that physician
stops the therapy.
Objective: Investigating the effect of Achillea millefolium distillate solution in the treatment of
chemotherapy-induced OM.
Interventions/methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 56 cancer patients with chemotherapyinduced
OM were randomly assigned into control and experimental groups in similar blocks based on
the severity of OM. The experimental group gargled 15 mL of a mixture of routine solution and distilled
A. millefolium 4 times a day for 14 days while the control group gargled 15 mL of routine solution. The
severity of OM was assessed at three times before, 7 and 14 days after intervention. Data was analyzed
using Wilcoxon, KruskaleWallis, ManneWhitney U, Friedman, Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests.
Results: The mean severity score of OM was 2.39 ± 0.875 in both groups at start of the study that was
changed to 1.07 ± 0.85 and 0.32 ± 0.54 in the intervention group in days 7 and 14 (p < 0.001). However,
the severity of OM was increased to 2.75 ± 0.87 and 2.89 ± 0.956 in the control group respectively
(p < 0.001).