Purpose: To study the symptoms of patients during the 7 days after incisional biopsy of the oral mucosa and the application of polyvinylpyrrolidone-sodium hyaluronate (Aloclair) gel or 0.2% chlorhexidine digluconate gel.
Materials and methods: A total of 90 consecutive patients with lesions requiring histopathologic analysis were studied. These patients were divided randomly into 3 groups. Group I (control group) received no topical treatment. For group II, the site of surgical intervention was treated topically with polyvinylpyrrolidone sodium hyaluronate (Aloclair; Sinclair Pharma, Surrey, United Kingdom) gel 3 times daily for 1 week. Group III was treated the same as group II but with 0.2% chorhexidine digluconate gel. Using a visual analog scale, we determined the interval at which the postoperative pain was maximal, and which parts of the mouth experienced the most postoperative complications.
Results: The most intense peaks of maximal pain were recorded in the control group, with the maximal pain occurring 2 hours (median 2.2, range 0 to 8.5) after surgery, after which it tended to diminish gradually during the week of the study period. The maximal level of pain was significantly lower in groups II and III than in the control group (P = .048 and P = .054, respectively). The lip was the site most likely to experience maximal pain.
Conclusion: Topical application of polyvinylpyrrolidone sodium hyaluronate and chlorhexidine digluconate decreases the symptoms of oral mucosa biopsy.
Copyright 2010 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.