Oral ulcers of COVID-19 patients: a scoping review protocol

ObjectiveThis scoping review aims to systematically identify the types, characteristics, and possible pathophysiologic etiologies of the oral ulcers that emerge in COVID-19 patients. IntroductionThe oral cavity is a vulnerable niche for the most diverse microbial ecosystem in the human body; therefore, it presents a wide array of mucocutaneous complications that could indicate various acute and chronic conditions. The COVID-19-related oral conditions, including oral ulcers, had been widely debated as direct manifestations or indirect complications of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. According to a preliminary search of PROSPERO, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the JBI Evidence Synthesis, there is no published nor registered scoping review concerned with the oral ulcers of COVID-19 patients. Inclusion criteriaThe review will include studies included COVID-19 patients whose infection had been confirmed by RT-PCR testing regardless of infection severity and clinical course. Only the studies that reported COVID-19 patients with oral ulcers. MethodsA three-phase search strategy will be carried out: an initial limited search, a full electronic search, and hand search using the reference lists of all included records. The main bibliographic databases of published literature will include MEDLINE(R) (Ovid), EMBASE (Elsevier), and Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register. All identified records will be managed using EndNote 9.2, and the titles and abstracts will be screened against the inclusion criteria before the full text of all potentially relevant studies will be examined. The data will be presented in tabular form, rating maps, and narrative summary. RegistrationThis protocol had been pre-registered in Open Science Framework (OSF) Registries.[1]