Assessment of Effect of Submucosal Injection of Dexmedetomidine on Postoperative Symptoms

Abstract

Embedded third molar surgery is the most frequent oral-maxillofacial surgical procedure performed. The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical effect of submucosal dexmedetomidine (dex) on decreasing postoperative edema, trismus, and pain after surgical molar extraction. We carried out a double-blind, randomized, prospective study including patients undergoing surgical bilateral embedded mandibular molar extraction. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those receiving saline solution and those receiving dex. The main outcome measures of pain, facial swelling, and trismus were assessed on days 2 and 7 after surgery. In addition, patients were requested to record the time rescue analgesics were taken, as well as the total number taken. The variables were analyzed using the Student t test and a repeated-measures general linear model. P<.05 was considered statistically significant. The study included 40 patients (9 women and 11 men per group; mean age, 23.40years) undergoing surgical bilateral embedded mandibular molar extraction. On day 2, a statistically significant difference in edema was found between the groups (P=.004). On days 2 and 7, statistically significant differences in the severity of trismus were found between the groups (P=.001 and P<.001, respectively). In addition, statistically significant differences were found between the groups in visual analog scale pain scores at 1, 6, 12, 24, and 48hours (P=.161, P=.038, P=.110, P=.136, and P=.007, respectively) and in the number of analgesic tablets taken (P<.001). Preoperative submucosal dex is an efficient, safe, and beneficial therapeutic strategy to decrease edema, trismus, and pain after surgical molar extraction.