Objective: To explore the clinical application of mouthpiece in position fixation during radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and provide reference for clinical decision-making. Method: A total of 35 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who underwent treatment at the Radiotherapy Center of Sun Yat sen University Affiliated Cancer Hospital from November 2022 to May 2023 were selected, while the control group consisted of 17 patients who were fixed with head, neck, and shoulder thermoplastic film combined with foam adhesive; The experimental group consisted of 18 patients who were fixed with head, neck, and shoulder thermoplastic film combined with foam adhesive and mouthpiece. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the positioning errors of CBCT images before treatment in three regions(region Ⅰ: head and neck joint frame; region Ⅱ: nasopharyngeal and upper cervical vertebral frame; and region Ⅲ: lower cervical vertebral frame). Result: Independent sample t-tests were conducted on the positioning errors of the experimental group and the control group in six directions in three regions. The difference in positioning errors between the Pitch and Yaw directions in Region Ⅰ and the AP, Pitch, Roll, and Yaw directions in Region Ⅱ, as well as the six directions in Region Ⅲ, is statistically significant. The differences in the SI, LR, A, Roll, and Pitch directions of the positioning errors between the control group in Region Ⅱ and Region Ⅲ were statistically significant. At the same time, the extended boundaries(SI: 0.39; LR: 0.31; AP: 0.46) of the control group in Region Ⅱwere smaller than those in Region Ⅲ in all three directions(SI: 0.84; LR: 0.73; AP: 0.74). The differences in positioning errors in SI, LR, Roll, Pitch, and Yaw directions between the experimental group Ⅱ and Ⅲ regions were not statistically significant. Patients showed a significant improvement in the fixation effect of the lower neck with the use of oral implants. Conclusion: In this study, the positioning error of the patient wearing a mouthpiece combined with foam adhesive is significantly better than that of a single foam adhesive. The fixation method of neck and shoulder thermoplastic film combined with foam adhesive and mouthpiece is more conducive to improving the positioning accuracy and repeatability of intensified modulated radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma, especially for the improvement of lower neck error in patients. |