Oral Biopsies: Evaluation of the Post-surgical Discomfort

Evaluation of the Post-surgical Discomfort in Patients Undergoing Diagnostic Oral Biopsies

Aim of this study is to evaluate the post-operative course in patients undergoing diagnostic or therapeutic oral mucosal biopsies.

To evaluate the wound healing, all variables connected with the surgery (including post-operative complications) were recorded. To evaluate the psychological and behavioral impact of the post-operative discomfort, two survey tools were administered: OHIP-14 and visual number scale of pain (VNS) were administered at 6h, 7 days and 21 days after biopsy.

Inclusion Criteria:

• no systemic or local contraindications for surgical treatment
• need for an oral biopsy (both excisional and incisional).

Exclusion Criteria:

Since no absolute contraindications to oral biopsies are reported, no exclusion criteria were selected for this study, but if any relative contraindication was present (i.e. bleeding disorders) biopsy was performed after the resolution of the problem