Effect of submucosal injection of dexamethasone after third molar surgery: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Abstract

The aim of this meta-analysis was to analyse the effectiveness of submucosal injection of dexamethasone to control the postoperative signs and symptoms resulting from impacted third molar surgery. An electronic search was conducted, without restriction on date or language, in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science databases until June 2015 . The eligibility criteria included non-randomized or randomized clinical trials in humans. After the search and selection process, eight articles were included. The fixed-effects or random-effects model, depending on heterogeneity, was built on the inverse-variance method used. The estimations of intervention were expressed as the mean difference (MD) in millimetres. The results of this meta-analysis suggest that the submucosal injection of dexamethasone presents a reduction in the postoperative signs and symptoms resulting from impacted third molar surgery, especially those associated with oedema and pain. In relation to trismus, the meta-analysis showed no statistically significant difference between dexamethasone and the placebo solution.

Keywords: dexamethasone; meta-analysis; oedema; pain; third molar extraction; trismus.