Background: An oral ulcer is one of the most commonly addressed complaints in patients visiting the ENT department. Worldwide estimated prevalence in general population varies from 4.9% to 64.7%. Aphthous ulcers may affect as many as 25% of the population in the world. Methods: This prospective study was conducted from October 2017 to September 2018 at the tertiary care hospital after approval from the institutional ethics committee. Detailed history was taken from all patients with ulceromembranous lesions in oral cavity and oropharynx. Thorough examination was done. Throat swab was taken and sent for gram’s stain, culture and sensitivity and KOH mount. Biopsy was taken from lesions in suspected malignant ulceroproliferative lesions in oral cavity and oropharynx. Patients were treated symptomatically. Once results of gram’s stain, KOH mount were found to be positive, they were treated with antibacterials and antifungal agents. Patients with malignant ulcers who gave consent were taken for surgical treatment and rest of the patients were treated with radiotherapy. Results: There were 130 cases of ulcer-membranous lesions in oral cavity and oropharynx. Males (60.76%) were most commonly affected. Most common symptom was odynophagia (46.15%). Smoking (33.84%) was found to be most common risk factor. 44.64% of study subjects had infective etiology and 29.23% had inflammatory etiology. Most of the cases (78.46%) cases were managed conservatively and 20% of patients received radiotherapy. 2 patients underwent surgery. Conclusions: The diverse clinical presentations highlighted the importance of a thorough diagnostic approach to differentiate between various etiology emphasizing the role of early diagnosis and appropriate medical therapy in improving patient outcomes. Keywords: Ulcero-membranous lesions, Oral cavity, Oropharynx
Hodeyala et al. (Fri,) studied this question.