Comparative Analgesic Effects of Ibuprofen, Celecoxib and Tramadol after third Molar Surgery: A Randomized Double Blind Controlled Trial

Abstract

This study compared the effects of ibuprofen, celecoxib and tramadol on pain after surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. This double blind randomized controlled trial recruited 135 healthy subjects who required surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars, with a mean age of 26.51 ± SD 6.29 years. The subjects were randomized into three equal groups and given appropriate doses of each drug immediately after extraction. They continued the drugs up to 48 hours after extraction. Postoperative pain intensity was self-recorded by subjects at 4, 8, 16, 24 and 48 hours after extraction, using visual analogue scale (VAS). Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, 2-sample Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis rank test. Statistical analysis was done using intention-to-treat analysis. The mean VAS at each point of postoperative pain assessment was compared using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) among the three groups. Statistical significance was inferred at p < 0.05. The mean VAS score of the celecoxib group (32.35± SD 23.96) at 4 hours was the lowest among the three groups. This was followed by the ibuprofen group with mean VAS score of 38.96 ± SD 22.30. Whereas, the subjects in tramadol group experienced the highest VAS score (53.31 ± SD 23.30) at 4 hours. There was statistically significant difference in the mean VAS scores at 4 hours after extraction when the three groups were compared (p = 0.0039). Celecoxib group also had the lowest mean VAS scores at 8 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours after the extraction. None of the subjects in the ibuprofen and celecoxib groups reported any adverse effect of the analgesics, whereas 47.61% of the tramadol group did. Celecoxib was the most effective analgesic of the three studied drugs in controlling postoperative pain after mandibular third molar extraction in our subjects. It was closely followed by ibuprofen while tramadol was found to be the least effective. The outcomes of this study suggest that celecoxib can be prescribed for effective control of postoperative pain after third molar surgery especially in patients with peptic ulcer disease who will not tolerate the adverse effect of traditional nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It also shows that ibuprofen can be an analgesic of choice for patients who are not at risk of gastrointestinal complications of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Tramadol could be considered for patients with milder postoperative pain after third molar surgery.