Pain Relief Following Daycase Oral Surgery

METHODS: Eighty patients undergoing routine oral surgical procedures under daycase general anaesthesia over a 4-month period were questioned about their pain control at 6-hours and 24-hours following surgery. Each patient was given an information leaflet as well as verbal explanation about the purpose of the study and consent obtained. Following consent, patients were given a copy of the questionnaire and an explanation on use of the numerical rating scale format. Patients were then contacted by telephone 48-hours following surgery to collect data.

Patient's demographic data, type of surgery performed, type of analgesics prescribed, any additional non-prescribed analgesic taken, data on level of pain experienced, satisfaction level on analgesia provided and pain relief were recorded.

RESULTS: Data on all eighty patients were recorded. The type of procedure performed varied from multiple dental extractions involving 3 teeth or more, impacted third molars, apicectomy, implant placement and chin grafts. Thirty eight patients were prescribed ibuprofen 600mg alone, 30 patients received combination of ibuprofen 600mg and Co-codamol, 8 patients received Co-codamol alone and 4 patients had Paracetamol 1g alone. At 6 hours following surgery 42% of patients had moderate to severe pain, whereas at 24 hours, this reduced to 39%. Overall, 89% were satisfied with their pain relief.

CONCLUSION: Patient’s expectation of postoperative pain relief following oral surgery is low. We found postoperative pain relief following daycase oral surgery is inadequate despite a commonly used analgesic protocol and additional efforts are required to improve patients' postoperative pain experience.