Sinais e sintomas de disfunção temporomandibular em indivíduos com câncer de cabeça e pescoço: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Objective: Although many studies investigate the association between Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) and orofacial pain, including temporomandibular disorders (TMD), most of the studies found in the literature refer to pain or orofacial dysfunction secondary to treatment of cancer, and not as a symptom associated with this disease. Therefore, the objective of this systematic literature review was to seek evidence about pain and dysfunction in the orofacial region as early symptoms of HNC. Methods: articles were searched through the PubMed, LILACS and BVS databases. The inclusion criteria consisted of: studies with a clear description of the relationship between orofacial pain as a primary symptom in patients with untreated HNC, written in Portuguese and English, without restriction regarding the period of publication of articles. Results: 91 articles were identified. After exclusion of duplicate articles, case reports, and articles that did not focus on the proposed theme, 6 studies were included, these studies being 2 observational and 4 systematic reviews. Conclusions: Orofacial pain, among them TMD, may be a symptom of presentation of several types of HNC. The tongue / base of tongue and mouth floor were the most common sites in the association of HNC and orofacial pain. The most reported symptoms were: limitation of mouth opening, opening deviation, otalgia, headache, cracking and chewing pain. However, due to the limited number of studies selected to compose this systematic review and the low methodological quality, many findings described here are superficial and inconclusive.