Frequency and Location of Referred Pain in Patients with Temporomandibular Disorder Frecuencia y Ubicación del Dolor Referido en Pacientes con Trastornos Temporomandibulares

Based on the survey of records regarding the location and frequency of referred pain in patients with temporomandibular disorder when certain pre-established areas are palpated, we proposed an anatomical-topographical division of the head and neck to allow the standardization and reproducibility of locations of referred pain. Of the 835 charts reviewed, 419 (50.2%) patients had referred pain on palpation of the regions based on the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) and palpation of the cervical regions, as often analyzed by the Cochran Q test. The concordance coefficient of Kendall examined the correlation between regions of referred pain concerning to palpated sites. The new regions were defined preauricular, facial lateral, temporoparietal, posterior head, posterior and lateral cervical, anterior cervical and calvaria. The region palpated that originated more referred pain was corresponding to the masseter muscle followed by the region of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, regardless of the side palpated. On palpation of the regions established by the RDC/TMD, the most frequent area of referred pain was the lateral facial region. On palpation of the neck, were the posterior and lateral cervical regions. The sites that originated more referred pain when palpated were the masseter, temporalis, sternocleidomastoid and trapezius muscles.