Pain and swelling are common complications following surgical procedures and oral dexamethasone has been reported to reduce these complications. The purpose of this study was to analyze post-operative pain and swelling of patients undergoing surgical endodontic retreatment.
The study consisted of 51 patients referred for surgical retreatment. All patients were prescribed a single dose of oral dexamethasone, 8 mg, pre-surgery and two single doses, 4 mg, one and two days post-surgery. All surgical procedures were performed using a microsurgical technique. Pain and swelling were recorded before and after surgical procedures and the influence of different variables on post-operative sequel was analyzed.
One day post-surgery, 76.4% of the patients were completely pain free, less than 4% had moderate pain, and 64.7% did not report any swelling. The pre-operative symptoms significantly (p<0.05) influenced the pain experience post-surgery.
Conclusions. The low incidence of post-operative symptoms could be related to premedication with dexamethasone.