title: Pain complaint as the first symptom of oral cancer: a descriptive study.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Oral Surgery, Dental School of Universidade Bandeirante (UNIBAN), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Linneu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cuffari
authors.forename: José Tadeu
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Tesseroli de Siqueira
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nemr
authors.forename: Abrão
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rapaport
mesh_terms: 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