Spectrum of Lip Lesions in a Tertiary Care Hospital: An Epidemiological Study of 3009 Indian Patients

AIM: Large-scale population-based screening studies have identified lip lesions to be the most common oral mucosal lesions; however, few studies have been carried out to estimate the prevalence of lip lesions exclusively. The aim of present study is to highlight the diversity of lip lesions and determine their prevalence in an unbiased Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Lip lesions were selected from 3009 patients who visited the department over a period of 3 years (January 2012 to December 2014). Age, sex, location of lip lesions, a detailed family and medical history, along with the history of any associated habit was recorded. Biopsy was carried out in necessary cases to reach a final diagnosis. The pathologies of the lip were classified based on the etiology. RESULTS: Among 3009 patients, 495 (16.5%) had lip lesions ranging from 4 years to 85 years with a mean age of 39.7 years. There were 309 (62.4%) males and 185 (31.9%) females. Lower lip was the most affected region (54.1%) followed by the corner of the mouth (30.9%) and upper lip (11.7%). In 3.2% of the cases, both the lips were involved. Of the 495 lip lesions, the most common were Potentially Malignant Disorders (PMDs) (37.4%), herpes labialis (33.7%), mucocele (6.7%), angular cheilitis (6.1%), and allergic and immunologic lesions (5.7%). CONCLUSION: Lip lesions may act as an indicator for the presence of an underlying systemic disease. PMDs and infections were the most common lip lesions in the present study.