Abstract
The oral mucosal lesions include a wide spectrum of diseases and disorders. Appropriate management and early recognition are key to increasing the chances for better outcomes and slowing the progression of the disease. The primary objective of this study was to assess the clinical features, distribution pattern and outcome of oral mucosal lesions of patients attending tertiary care center. This Cross sectional observational study (September 2022 to February 2023) included 120 patients using consecutive sampling via a structured proforma to record the demographic information, risk factors, characteristics of lesions, site of anatomical involvement and clinical diagnosis. Treatment outcomes were evaluated at follow-up visits and grouped into complete resolution, partial improvement, no response, or recurrence. Data were analyzed by SPSS 26.0 and p-values <0.05 were regarded as significant. There were 120 patients with 62.5% male and the maximum number were in the 41–60 years age group (45.8%). 58.3% reported the presence of tobacco-related habits. The benign lesions was found in 56.7% of the cases, 22.5% of the lesions were dysplastic lesion and 10.8% were oral squamous cell carcinoma, identified by histopathological examination. These tobacco users had significantly more potentially malignant lesions than non-users (55.7% vs. 26.0%; p=0.003). After treatment, complete clinical resolution was seen in 55.8%, partial improvement in 28.3%, recurrence in 10.8% and no clinical response in 5.0% of patients. Oral mucosal lesions are a wide spectrum of inflammatory, potentially malignant and malignant lesions in tertiary care settings. Most patients had good treatment outcomes with early diagnosis, histopathological confirmation and timely management, and tobacco use was an important risk factor for potentially malignant oral lesions.
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