Abstract
BackgroundThe aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic effects of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) on pain after the impacted third molar surgery.Material and MethodsThe study was carried out on 30 patients attending the outpatient department of the oral and maxillofacial surgery. Both sides’ impacted mandibular third molars were taken into consideration, and a total of 60 impacted third molars were undergone surgical extraction. After the first surgery, patients were given analgesic, antibiotics, and mouthwash as a routine treatment procedure. Following the second surgery, TENS was applied over the painful area of the cheek for patients in addition to routine treatment procedure. Pain was evaluated with Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at the postoperative 6, 8, 24 hours and 2,3,4 and 5 days. The Student t test was applied to compare pain levels between groups. P<0.05 and p<0.001 were considered significant in all statistical analyses.ResultsThe study was carried out in 30 patients 15 (50%) female and 15 (50%) male, aged between 20 and 31 years. The mean age of the patients was 24.60 ± 4.76. There was a statistically significant difference in the evaluation of VAS levels in postoperative 6, 8, 24 hours and 2, 3, 4, and 5 days between the routine treatment group and the TENS application group.ConclusionsTENS activates a complex neuronal network to result in a reduction in pain. In conclusion, TENS application was highly effective in pain modulation following the third molar surgery. Therefore, TENS, which is one of the non-pharmacological pain control methods after such surgeries, can be used safely in reducing postoperative pain. Key words:Impacted teeth, third molar, pain, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.
Highlights
Surgical extraction of the impacted teeth is one of the most frequently performed procedures in oral surgery [1,2,3]
Many pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are used in order to reduce the severity and the amount of complications such as pain, swelling, and trismus which are developed after the impacted third molar surgery [7]
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-pharmacological pain control method based on the method of applying different frequency electrical currents via the surface electrodes placed on the skin and activates a complex neuronal network to reduce pain by activating descending inhibitory systems in the central nervous system to reduce hyperalgesia
Summary
Surgical extraction of the impacted teeth is one of the most frequently performed procedures in oral surgery [1,2,3]. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-pharmacological pain control method based on the method of applying different frequency electrical currents via the surface electrodes placed on the skin and activates a complex neuronal network to reduce pain by activating descending inhibitory systems in the central nervous system to reduce hyperalgesia This method, which is cheap, safe and easy to apply, can be used in addition to pharmacological agents in the treatment of postoperative pain [8,9]. There was a statistically significant difference in the evaluation of VAS levels in postoperative 6, 8, 24 hours and 2, 3, 4, and 5 days between the routine treatment group and the TENS application group. TENS, which is one of the non-pharmacological pain control methods after such surgeries, can be used safely in reducing postoperative pain
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