Pain complaint as the first symptom of oral cancer: a descriptive study.
OBJECTIVE
To identify pain as the initial symptom of oral cancer patients.


METHODS
Hospital charts of 1412 patients (1977 to 1998) with oral cancer were reviewed (238 female and 1174 male).


RESULTS
Pain was the initial complaint in 19.2% of the sample. Oral cancer (ratio 4:1) and initial pain (ratio 9:1; P= .001) was prevalent in men. There were 12 different complaints of pain: sore throat (37.6%), tongue pain (14.0%), mouth pain (12.9%); pain when swallowing (11.1%), dental pain (5.9%); earache (5.9%); pain in the palate (4.1%); burning mouth (3.3%); gingival pain (2.2%); pain when chewing (1.1%); neck pain (1.1%), and facial pain (0.7%). Pain was associated with advanced TNM staging and location of tumor in the tongue (P= .004) and the tongue/mouth floor (P< .006).


CONCLUSIONS
There were 12 different descriptions of pain; pain was related to TNM staging in the tongue and the tongue/mouth floor. The data presented reinforce the suggestion that patients with orofacial pain need systematized evaluation and sometimes require an interdisciplinary approach.
Cuffari
Linneu
L
Oral Surgery, Dental School of Universidade Bandeirante (UNIBAN), São Paulo, Brazil.
Tesseroli de Siqueira
José Tadeu
JT
Nemr
Katia
K
Rapaport
Abrão
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies