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METHODS article

Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Oral Health Promotion
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2024.1456385
This article is part of the Research Topic Pathology and Oral Health View all articles

Proposal of a modified technique of Nikolsky's sign in oral autoimmune vesiculobullous diseases

Provisionally accepted
MASSIMO PETRUZZI MASSIMO PETRUZZI 1,2*
  • 1 University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
  • 2 University of Bern, Bern, Bern, Switzerland

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Nikolsky's sign, originally described for skin lesions, presents challenges when applied to the oral mucosa. To address this, a modified Nikolsky's sign has been proposed specifically for the oral mucosa. In this variant, a gentle breath of air from the air syringe embedded in the dental unit is used to inflate a pre-existing collapsed blister (non-induced technique). Alternatively, in the induced technique, a healthy peri-lesion mucosal site is gently scratched with a blunt dental tool, and after a few minutes, air is blown on the same area to inflate any newly formed blister. The sign is considered positive if a blister is raised from the blown surface. The described modified Nikolsky's sign improves the visualization of oral vesicles and blisters in a cost-effective, easy, and minimally invasive manner.Its elicitation can aid in referring patients to specialized tertiary care units.

    Keywords: Nikolsky's sign, oral blisters, oral pemphigus, Oral pemphigoid, oral vesiculobullous diseases

    Received: 28 Jun 2024; Accepted: 29 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 PETRUZZI. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: MASSIMO PETRUZZI, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

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