Drug-induced Tongue Disorders: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Some drugs cause tongue disorders as adverse effects. Most of the drug-induced tongue disorders are benign and will resolve after drug discontinuation. However, the changes in the color or appearance of the tongue may frighten patients and decrease compliance with drug therapy.

To review the literature to find all reports of drug-induced tongue disorders, their presentation, management, and outcome of patients.

The search was conducted in Google Scholar and PubMed using key words "ageusia," "burning tongue," "coated tongue," "drug-induced taste disturbances," "dysgeusia," "glossitis," "glossodynia," "hairy tongue," "hypogeusia," "stomatodynia," "stomatopyrosis," "swollen tongue" "tongue discoloration," "tongue irritation," "tongue numbness, "tongue oedema," and "tongue ulcer. All reports that were published from 1980 to 2022 in the English language were included in the study. Reports that were not in English language but had English abstracts with adequate data for extraction were also included.

A total of 208 case reports and case series were included. The most reported drug classes were antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents and anti-infectives for systemic use, and the most common tongue disorders were tongue discoloration and black hairy tongue. Having good oral hygiene and discontinuing the offending drug could manage and resolve the problem.

Drug-induced tongue disorders are not rare adverse drug reactions. They are benign in most cases, and withholding offending agents results in significant improvement or complete resolution of tongue lesions.