Local anesthesia nerve block for managing burning mouth syndrome: a scoping review

Objective: To assess the clinical scenarios in which nerve blocks are employed in the context of burning mouth syndrome (BMS).

Study design: This scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR. A protocol was generated on Open Science Framework. Electronic searches were performed in the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, LILACS, and Cochrane, in addition to the grey literature and citations from Grémeau-Richard et al. (2010).

Results: Nerve blocks were used for treatment purposes in all cases. The mandibular nerve and the stellate ganglion were both blocked in 50% studies, while the maxillary nerve and lingual nerve were blocked in 25% study each. The anesthetics used were lidocaine (50%) and bupivacaine (50%). Relief was generally reported after immediate block, and at a mean follow-up of 4.5 weeks, there was considerable improvement compared to the initial conditions when the mandibular and/or maxillary nerve were targeted.

Conclusions: The use of nerve blocks has been employed in the treatment of patients with refractory BMS. Clinical studies with standardized methodology are necessary to validate and understand the potential role of mandibular and maxillary nerve block in this setting.