Vol. 8, Issue 4, Part A (2024)

Introduction: Breast pain can have various causes. Some of these causes can be related to the menstrual cycle, but other causes include infection, cysts, and hormonal therapy. Cyclical breast pain is often caused by the natural menstrual cycle.

Objective: To determine the clinical outcome and ultrasound findings of patients with chest pain.

Methods: A prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of Surgery Cox's Bazar Medical College Hospital, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh from January to June 2023. A total of 100 patients were included in the study. Patients aged 15-60 years who did not have a clinically palpable mass were included in the study. A detailed medical history was recorded considering especially age, duration of symptoms, height, menstruation, marital status, parity, lactation, nipple discharge and tenderness. The intensity of pain was classified as mild, moderate or severe. In all cases, ultrasound examination of the breast including the axilla was performed and findings were recorded to correlate with clinical features. 

Results: Out of 100 patients studied, the mean age of the patients was 34.5±23.75 years (range: 16 to 60 years). Most patients were in the age group 21-30 years (50%) followed by (31-40 years) (35%) respectively. 65 (65%) were married and 35 (35%) were single. 23 patients had 1 child, 20 had 2 children with 8 of them having no children. USG examination of the affected breast and axilla are found normal study in 50 (50%) patients, duct ectasia in 14 (14%), multiple small cystic lesions in 10 (10%), fibroadenosis in 10 (10%) patients. Heterogonous ectagenecity with probe tenderness in 5 (5%), Hypoechoeic demarcated nodules 5 (5%) and fibroadenosis in 4 (4%) and enlarged axillary lymph node 2 (2%) respectively. The pain was on right side in 45 (45) patients, 40 (40) on the left and bilateral in 15 (15) patients. The intensity of the pain was mild in 64 (64), moderate in 32 (32), and severe in 4 (4), patients according to visual analog scoring (VAS) system. Mass was more frequent in females aged 21-30 years (50%), married females (65%) and females with 2 children (35.3%). These correlations were not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Ultrasonography is relatively not costly and highly accessible technique for assessing breast pain. The majority of patients with breast pain without clinically palpable lump had normal USG study. But it also detects other early changes in the breast tissue. It can be used as a baseline investigation for any breast pain without palpable lump.