What to Do When a Patient Presents with Breast Pain
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
What to do when a patient presents with breast pain Most breast pain is due to hormonal and fibrocystic changes, with conservative measures and patient reassurance prioritized. Here, types of breast pain, when imaging and referral are required, and management strategies. Laila Samiian, MD reast pain is one of the most common changes. Elevated estrogen can stimulate the breast-related patient complaints growth of breast tissue, which is known as B and is found to affect at least 50% of epithelial hyperplasia.3 Fluctuations in hor- the female population.1 Most cases are self- mone levels can occur in perimenopausal limiting and are related to hormonal and women in their forties and can result in new normal fibrocystic changes. The median age symptoms of breast pain.4 Sometimes start- of onset of symptoms is 36 years, with most ing a new contraceptive medication or hor- 2 IN THIS women experiencing pain for 5 to 12 years. mone replacement therapy can exacerbate ARTICLE Because the cause of breast pain is not always the pain. Switching brands or medications clear, its presence can produce anxiety in pa- may help. Another cause of mastalgia may be Types of tients and physicians over the possibility of elevated prolactin levels, with hypothalamic- 5,6 breast pain underlying malignancy. Although breast can- pituitary dysfunction. cer is not associated with breast pain, many Diet. There is evidence to link a high-fat diet page 45 patients presenting with pain are referred for with breast pain. The pain has been shown diagnostic imaging (usually with negative re- to improve when lipid intake is reduced and Managing breast sults). The majority of women with mastalgia high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol pain and abnormal and normal clinical examination findings can levels are normalized. As estrogen is a steroid clinical exam be reassured with education about the many hormone that can be synthesized from lipids page 48 benign causes of breast pain. and fatty acids, elevated lipid metabolism can increase estrogen levels and exacerbate Managing breast breast pain symptoms.7,8 Essential fatty acids, pain and normal What are causes of breast such as evening primrose oil and vitamin E, clinical exam pain without an imaging have been used to treat mastalgia because they reduce inflammation in fatty breast tis- page 50 abnormality? Hormones. Mastalgia can be focal or gen- sue through the prostaglandin pathway.9,10 eralized and is mostly due to hormonal Caffeine. Methylxanthines can be found in coffee, tea, and chocolate and can aggravate Dr. Samiian is a Breast Surgical mastalgia by enhancing the cyclin adenos- Oncologist at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonville, Florida. ine monophosphate (cAMP) pathway. This pathway stimulates cellular proliferation and fibrocystic changes which in turn can exacer- bate breast pain.11 The author reports no financial relationships relevant to this Smoking. In my clinical practice I have article. clearly noted a higher incidence of breast 44 OBG Management | June 2019 | Vol. 31 No. 6 mdedge.com/obgyn The majority (95%) of breast pain is caused by benign hormonal and fibrocystic changes, which can be managed conservatively, with no breast imaging necessary. Conservative measures include reassurance and education, supportive bra, and diet and lifestyle modification. Topical vitamins and analgesics and oral therapies are second- and third-line treatment options. pain in patients who smoke. The pain tends can be localized to the upper outer quadrants to improve significantly when the patient or to the nipple and sub-areolar area. It also quits or even cuts back on smoking. The ex- can be generalized. The pain tends to peak act reasons for smoking’s effects on breast with ovulation, improve with menses, and to pain are not well known; however, they are recur every few weeks. Patients who have had thought to be related to acceleration of the partial hysterectomy (with ovaries in situ) or cAMP pathway. endometrial ablation will be unable to corre- Large breast size. Very large breasts will late their symptoms to menstruation. There- strain and weaken the suspensory ligaments, fore, women are encouraged to keep a diary leading to pain and discomfort. It has been or calendar of their symptoms to detect any shown that wearing a supportive sports bra correlation with their ovarian cycle. Such cor- during episodes of breast pain is effective. relation is reassuring. Noncyclical Types of breast pain Noncyclical breast pain is not associated with Cyclical the menstrual cycle and can be unilateral or Women with fibrocystic breasts tend to ex- bilateral. Providers should perform a good ILLUSTRATION: KIMBERLY MARTENS FOR OBG MANAGEMENT MARTENS KIMBERLY ILLUSTRATION: perience more breast pain. Breast sensitivity history of patients presenting with noncyclical mdedge.com/obgyn Vol. 31 No. 6 | June 2019 | OBG Management 45 What to do when a patient presents with breast pain breast pain, to include character, onset, du- while the patient is in supine position and ration, location, radiation, alleviating, and pressing directly over the ribs. Lack of tender- aggravating factors. A physical examination ness on palpation of the breast parenchyma, may elicit point tenderness at the chest by but pain on the chest wall, points to a mus- pushing the breast tissue off of the chest wall culoskeletal etiology. Chest wall pain may be related to muscle spasm or muscle strain, trauma, rib fracture, or costochondritis Should I order breast imaging for my patient with (Tietze syndrome). Finally, based on history breast pain and a normal clinical breast exam? of review of systems and physical examina- tion, referred pain from biliary or cardiac eti- Breast pain is not associated with breast cancer. Most breast cancers ology should be considered. do not hurt; they present as firm, painless masses. However, when a woman notices pain in her breast, her first concern is breast cancer. When breast pain occurs This concern is re-enforced by the medical provider whose first with skin changes impulse is to order diagnostic imaging. Yet less than 3% of breast Skin changes usually have an underlying cancers are associated with breast pain. pathology. Infectious processes, such as in- There have been multiple published retrospective and fected epidermal inclusion cyst, hidradenitis prospective radiologic studies about the utility of breast imaging in of the cleavage and inframammary crease, women with breast pain without a palpable mass. All of the studies have demonstrated that breast imaging with mammography and or breast abscess will present with pain and ultrasonography in these patients yields mostly negative or benign induration with an acute onset of 5 to 10 findings. The incidence of breast cancer during imaging work-up days. Large pendulous breasts may develop in women with breast pain and no clinical abnormality is only 0.4% yeast infection at the inframammary crease. to 1.8%.1-3 Some patients may develop future subsequent breast Chronic infectious irritation can lead to hy- cancer in the symptomatic breast. But this is considered incidental perpigmentation of that area. Eczema or and possibly related to increased cell turnover related to fibrocystic contact dermatitis frequently can affect the changes. Breast imaging for evaluation of breast pain only provides reassurance to the physician. The patient’s reassurance will come areola and become confused with Paget dis- from a medical explanation for the symptoms and advice on ease (ductal carcinoma in situ of the nipple). symptom management from the provider. With Paget, the excoriation always starts at Researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center reported imaging the nipple and can then spread to the areola. findings and cost analysis for 799 patients presenting with breast However, with dermatitis, the rash begins on pain from 3 large network community-based breast imaging centers the peri-areolar skin, without affecting the in 2014. Breast ultrasound was the initial imaging modality for nipple itself. women younger than age 30. Digital mammography (sometimes with tomosynthesis) was used for those older than age 30 that had not had a mammogram in the last 6 months. Breast magnetic resonance When breast pain occurs imaging was performed only when ordered by the referring physician. with nipple discharge Most of the patients presented for diagnostic imaging, and 95% Breast pain with nipple discharge usually is bi- had negative findings and 5% had a benign finding. Only 1 patient lateral and more common in patients with sig- was found to have an incidental cancer in the contralateral breast, nificant fibrocystic changes who smoke. If the which was detected by tomosynthesis. The cost of breast imaging nipple discharge is bilateral, serous and non- was $87,322 in younger women and $152,732 in women older than bloody, and multiduct, it is considered benign age 40, representing overutilization of health care resources and no association between breast pain and breast cancer.4 and physiologic. Physiologic nipple discharge can be multifactorial and hormonal. It may References be related to thyroid disorders or medications 1. Chetlan AL, Kapoor MM, Watts MR. Mastalgia: imaging work-up appropriateness. Acad Radiol. 2017;24:345-349. such as antidepressants, selective serotonin 2. Arslan M, Kücükerdem HS, Can H, et al. Retrospective analysis of women with only mastalgia. J reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), mood stabilizers, Breast Health. 2016;12:151-154. 3. Noroozian M, Stein LF, Gaetke-Udager K, et al. Long-term clinical outcomes in women with or antipsychotics. The only nipple discharge breast pain in the absence of additional clinical findings: Mammography remains indicated. that is considered pathologic is unilateral Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2015;149:417-424. 4. Kushwaha AC, Shin K, Kalambo M, et al. Overutilization of health care resources for breast pain. spontaneous bloody discharge for which di- AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2018; 211:217-223. agnostic imaging and breast surgeon referral is indicated.