Patients' pain experience following oral mucosal biopsy under local anaesthesia

To examine the incidence and severity of post-operative pain and use of analgesics following biopsy of oral mucosal lesions. A patient survey using a self-completed pain diary. Seventy-six patients attending an oral medicine clinic for investigation of oral mucosal disease recorded overall and worst...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBritish dental journal Vol. 190; no. 1; pp. 33 - 35
Main Authors Kearns, H., McCartan, B., Lamey, P-
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group 13.01.2001
Subjects
Analgesics
Biopsy
Diaries
Local anesthesia
Maxillofacial surgery
Medicine
Pain
Pathology
Patients
Ireland
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Summary:To examine the incidence and severity of post-operative pain and use of analgesics following biopsy of oral mucosal lesions. A patient survey using a self-completed pain diary. Seventy-six patients attending an oral medicine clinic for investigation of oral mucosal disease recorded overall and worst pain experiences and analgesic usage over 7 post-operative days following biopsy using visual analogue scales in patient completed diaries. One third of patients reported no post-operative pain on any day. Most patients recorded no pain or mild pain. The percentage experiencing pain dropped from the first day (61%) to the seventh day (21%). Most patients did not use any analgesics. Analgesic use was not related to the presence of pain. Only a small minority of patients recorded severe pain. Biopsy of oral mucosal lesions does not cause undue pain in most patients.
ISSN:0007-0610
1476-5373
DOI:10.1038/sj.bdj.4800877a