Pain-relieving effects of clonazepam and amitriptyline in burning mouth syndrome: a retrospective study

This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of clonazepam and amitriptyline in the treatment of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). A single-centre retrospective cohort study was performed among patients diagnosed with BMS. Either clonazepam or amitriptyline was administered. Patients were asked to evaluate their pain using a 10-point verbal numerical scale (VNS) at baseline, and at 6 weeks and 3 months of treatment. Mean pain-relief values were assessed according to the treatment received using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Thirty-nine patients (85% female) were included. The mean age was 65 ± 10.5 years. The mean VNS score at baseline was 7.1 ± 2.0 in patients treated with clonazepam and 7.5 ± 1.1 in those treated with amitriptyline. The mean VNS scores in the clonazepam and amitriptyline groups were 4.9 ± 2.4 and 6.1 ± 2.6, respectively, after 6 weeks of treatment (P = 0.498) and 4.4 ± 2.0 and 4.1 ± 2.7, respectively, after 3 months (P = 0.509). There was no difference between the two treatments in terms of pain reduction. Clonazepam as well as amitriptyline may be an effective treatment for BMS.