Patients' pain experience following oral mucosal biopsy under local anaesthesia
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026
Technique to Collect Fungiform (Taste) Papillae from Human Tongue
Published on: September 18, 2010
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.
Related Concept Videos
01:16Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
01:29Blood and Nerve Supply to the Bones
Nutrient Artery
The nutrient artery is the main blood vessel that enters the diaphysis via the nutrient foramen. While most long bones have only one nutrient foramen, large bones, such as the femur, may have two. This...