Impacted mandibular third molar surgery; the role of dexamethasone in postoperative swelling and trismus

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of dexamethasone in post-operative edema and trismus after impacted third molar surgery. It was a prospective randomized control study carried in Department of Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, BADC, Larkana from March 2012 to Feb 2013. Patients age between 20-45 years of either gender; unilateral mandibular impacted third molars [right or left] were included. Patients divided in two groups by using random allocation number. Patients in Group-A were given intramuscular 8 mg dexamethasone 1 hour before surgery and four tablets [2mg] dexamethasone orally immediate postoperatively and 24 hours after surgery. The facial swelling was checked before surgery, after 24 hours [1st day], after 48 hours [2nd day], after 72 hours [3rd day] and on 7th postoperative day Inter-incisor distance was checked on every follow up. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 17. Mean and standard deviation was calculated for age and gender. Mean and SD of facial swelling and mouth opening was calculated before extraction, on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and on 7th post-operative day in both groups. The dexamethasone group showed significant reduction in swellingcompared with control group at all intervals. Dexamethasone resulted in significantly less trismus than controls on day 2 postoperatively, but there was no significant difference among the groups at 7thday. Dexamethasone is effective in minimizing swelling and trismus after removal of impacted lower third molar and improves the social life of individual