Abstract：
Professional delay is an important delay in referral of patients with suspected mouth cancer. Missing the possibility of cancer might not only result in worse outcomes in respect to function and survival, but also have medicolegal implications. The aim of this article was to review a consecutive cohort of patients over a two-year period with mouth cancer diagnosis and identify those with professional delay and illustrate the main types of presentations using short case histories. The multi-disciplinary team records were used to identify case notes of a two-year (2019 and 2020) consecutive cohort of patients diagnosed with mouth cancer, including referrals from primary and secondary care. Professional delay was considered if red flag symptoms were not referred within two weeks or if there was initial misdiagnosis. In total, 246 patients with mouth cancer were discussed with the multi-disciplinary team: 35 had delay in referral or misdiagnosis of mouth cancer. Six common scenarios were identified: 1) sudden onset paraesthesia; 2) dental abscess; 3) temporomandibular joint dysfunction syndrome (TMJD) and abscess; 4) TMJD; 5) trauma/facial fracture; and 6) non-healing socket following dental extraction. To conclude, it can be difficult to accurately diagnose mouth cancer in primary dental and medical care and an index of suspicion is essential in order to minimise the possibility of professional delay.
摘要：
专业延误是疑似口腔癌患者转诊的重要延误。错过癌症的可能性可能不仅会导致功能和生存方面的更糟糕的结果。但也有法医学意义。本文的目的是回顾连续两年的口腔癌诊断患者队列，并确定那些有专业延误的患者，并使用简短的病史说明主要类型的介绍。多学科团队记录用于识别连续两年（2019年和2020年）诊断为口腔癌的患者队列的病例记录。包括初级和二级保健的转诊。如果在两周内未提及危险信号症状或最初误诊，则考虑专业延误。总的来说,与多学科小组讨论了246例口腔癌患者：35例延迟转诊或误诊口腔癌。确定了六种常见情况：1）突然发作的感觉异常；2）牙脓肿；3）颞下颌关节功能障碍综合征（TMJD）和脓肿；4）TMJD；5）创伤/面部骨折；6）拔牙后牙槽不愈合。最后，在初级牙科和医疗护理中，很难准确诊断口腔癌，为了最大限度地减少专业延误的可能性，怀疑指数是必不可少的。
