Can adjunctive corticosteroid therapy improve patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery? A systematic review.

BACKGROUND

Third molar surgery is frequently associated with postoperative discomfort such as pain, edema and trismus. We aimed to evaluate the current evidence on the efficacy of adjunctive corticosteroid therapy in improving patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This systematic review assessed and searched PubMed, Google scholar, Scopus, web of science, clinicaltrials.gov and Cochrane central for controlled trials, up to May 2021. The primary outcome measures were patient-centered outcomes such as quality of life following the use of adjunctive corticosteroid therapy in third molar removal. Only randomized controlled trials published in English language were included.

RESULTS

A total of 355 studies were initially identified, and 12 studies were finally included. The results showed that both methylprednisolone and dexamethasone decreased postoperative side effects such as pain, trismus, and edema and consequently were improving patient reported outcomes. In this regard, none of the included papers reported any significant statistical difference between these two drugs (p > 0.05). The analysis regarding the route of administration for the corticosteroids showed that local and intravenous injection of dexamethasone had equivalent effects, and both methods showed better results as compared to simple oral administration.

CONCLUSIONS

Adjunctive use of corticosteroid drugs may improve patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery. However, there is no significant difference between drugs and routs of administration. Comparing various administration routs, local submucosal injection of dexamethasone seems to be a straightforward, painless and cost-effective adjunctive therapy.