Introduction: Removal of mandibular third molars surgically is one of the most frequently performed oral surgical procedures which are often accompanied with post-operative pain, swelling and trismus. Despite general progress in pain management, moderate to severe acute post-operative pain after removal of lower third molars remains a problem. Fentanyl is an extremely effective drug in the treatment of severe chronic pain such as cancer pain and post-operative pains which acts by increasing patient's tolerance to pain. Fentanyl Transdermal System (FTS) is a rectangular transdermal patch which contains high concentration of fentanyl, a potent short-acting Schedule II opiate. In this study the efficacy of transdermal fentanyl for management of post-operative pain after impacted mandibular 3rd molar surgery is evaluated.
Methods: 20 patients within the age group of 18-40 years with asymptomatic impacted mandibular third molars were equally divided into 2 groups as group A & group B which underwent surgery in Local Anaesthesia. In every patient one side belonged to group A and other side belonged to group B. 50 μg FTS was applied in group A while placebo patch was applied in group B.
Results: Patients in group A performed significantly better than group B in terms of mean pain intensity scores assessed by VAS and VRS along with minimum need of post-operative rescue analgesics.
Conclusion: It was found that FTS resulted in significantly better pain relief, longer pain-free intervals, and lesser post-operative analgesic consumption.
Keywords: Analgesia; Fentanyl; Opioid analgesic; Pain; Third molar surgery.
© The Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons of India 2022. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.