Effect of Dexamethasone on Swelling, Pain and Trismus following Third Molar Surgery

Background: Complications like swelling, trismus, and pain are common after third molar surgery. This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic effect of dexamethsone on these complications. Material & Methods: This study was conducted at Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar. Hundred patients with bilateral mandibular impaction were included in this study. One side of the patient last mandibular molar either right or left, was allocated randomly as control and the other side as study group. Study group received 8 mg intramuscular dexamethasone one hour prior to surgical extraction. Patients with contraindication to the use of steroids were excluded from this study. Facial swelling and maximal interincisal distance were measured by an independent examiner at baseline (preoperatively), and at 2nd, and 5th days postoperatively. Pain was measured by counting the number of rescue analgesic tablets taken, and from the patients’ response to a visual analogue scale. Results: The dexamethasone group showed significant reduction in swelling (p<0.001) and pain (p<0.05) compared with the control group at all intervals. Intramuscular dexamethasone resulted in significantly less trismus than controls on day 2 postoperatively (p= 0.037), but there was no significant difference among the groups at 5th day. Conclusion: Dexamethasone 8 mg given intramuscularly is effective in minimizing swelling, pain and trismus after removal of impacted lower third molar.