Long-term follow-up of postoperative swelling.

The course of a swelling after oral surgery was investigated by measuring the distance Tragus-Pogonium. The postoperative swelling does not diminish continuously, but changes according to a circaseptan (about 7-days) rhythm. Antiphlogistic drugs may reduce the extent of the postsurgical swelling, but they also disturb the reactive periods of the circaseptan rhythms. This could indicate either an acceleration of wound healing or a damping down or disturbance of the regenerating mechanisms of the organism. At the present, however, a decision cannot be made, although this question is of considerable clinical importance.