| Sub-title | |
| Author | A Bartolo |
| Abstract | Aim: In this double-blind randomised controlled clinical trial, a combination of oral paracetamol 1g and oral dexamethasone 1mg four times daily, was evaluated against oral diclofenac sodium 50mg three times daily, for the control of postoperative pain, swelling and trismus following the surgical removal of mandibular third molars under local anaesthesia. The purpose for such a study was to find an alternative drug regimen for the control of the common postoperative sequelae of oral surgery, especially for those patients in whom the usual drug regimens (e.g. NSAIDs) are contraindicated. Method: Postoperative pain was recorded 8-hourly by the patients using a visual analogue scale pain chart for 7 days, while facial swelling and trismus were assessed by the investigator on the second, fourth and seventh postoperative days. Facial swelling was determined using a measuring tape, while trismus was evaluated by measuring maximal interincisal opening. Results and conclusions: ANOVA for repeated measures analysis indicated that the patients in the paracetamol and dexamethasone group experienced an overall mean reduction of 36% in pain (p<0.05), of 76% in facial swelling (p<0.001) and of 56% in trismus (p<0.001) as compared to the patients in the diclofenac sodium control group. Levene's test for equality of variances showed that the inter-patient variation with respect to pain, swelling and trismus in the paracetamol and dexamethasone group, was also significantly less than that in the diclofenac sodium group (p<0.05). Pearson bivariate correlation tests show that the reduction in swelling and trismus (p<0.05) are significantly correlated in both groups. None of the patients reported any adverse drug reactions. |
Published in: | |
| Journal | Malta Medical Journal |
| Volume | 18 Supplement |
| Page | |
| Date | 01/12/2006 |
| Link to journal | |
| Key words | dental treatment, NSAID, randomised controlled trial |