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Patients' pain experience following oral mucosal biopsy under local anaesthesia
H P Kearns1, B E McCartan, P J Lamey
1Department of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine and Oral Pathology, School of Dental Science, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Objective:
To examine the incidence and severity of post-operative pain and use of analgesics following biopsy of oral mucosal lesions.
Design:
A patient survey using a self-completed pain diary.
Subjects And Methods:
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.
Results:
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.
Conclusion:
Biopsy of oral mucosal lesions does not cause undue pain in most patients.