["Facial pain" in German-language medical textbooks on pain (1990-2002)]

The aim of this study was to determine how frequently and to what extent facial pain--particularly musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain--has been considered in German-language textbooks on pain published between 1990 and 2002.

Relevant textbooks were identified by hand search and by search in electronic bibliographic databases. A quantitative analysis was carried out by counting and comparing the number of pertinent pages in the textbooks. For the assessment of the medical-scientific quality of the information on musculoskeletal face pain, a checklist was used based on comparisons with the current state of the scientific literature on facial pain.

Of 231 textbooks on pain, 28 consider the topic of "facial pain." Of the 1923 pages dedicated to facial pain and headache, musculoskeletal and neuropathic facial pain make up 7% and 17%, respectively. Headache, in contrast, accounts for 71% of all pages. Only ten contributions on musculoskeletal facial pain could be assessed, two of which exhibit a high medical-scientific quality.

The data suggest that facial pain is underrepresented in German-language textbooks on pain. In addition, a considerable part of the information given on musculoskeletal facial pain does not correspond to the current state of the scientific literature. This may lead to under- or overdiagnosis and to under- or overtreatment.