To Assess the Efficacy of Various Disinfection and Hemostasis Procedures in Providing Postoperative Pain Relief Following Pulpotomy in Cases of Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis

Cureus. 2023 Sep 13;15(9):e45163. doi: 10.7759/cureus.45163. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of various disinfection and hemostasis procedures in providing postoperative pain relief following pulpotomy in cases of symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.

Materials and methods: The data from a cohort of 50 patients who received treatment with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) and another cohort of 50 patients who received treatment with potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) laser were subjected to analysis. The patients were provided a questionnaire to evaluate pain levels before and after surgery. The patients documented their levels of postoperative pain at specific time intervals, including the sixth hour, first day, second day, third day, and eighth day. This was done using a 100 mm visual analog pain scale, where a marking of 0 mm indicated no pain and a marking of 100 mm indicated the highest level of pain, reflecting the severity of the pain experienced.

Results: The pain score of group B was significantly lower than that of group A on the first day. While no notable disparity was detected among the groups during the remaining postoperative periods, it is worth noting that the KTP laser exhibited comparatively lower pain scores. In both groups, the initial pain score before surgery was found to be significantly higher than the pain scores recorded at all subsequent time intervals after surgery. Within group A, it was observed that the pain score during the sixth hour after the surgical procedure was notably greater compared to the pain scores recorded during all other time intervals following the operation. In group B, the pain score at the sixth hour exhibited a statistically significant increase compared to the pain scores observed on the third day and eighth day.

Conclusion: The KTP laser group exhibited a lower postoperative pain score in comparison to the NaOCl group. The utilization of KTP laser-assisted pulpotomy demonstrated enhanced efficacy in alleviating pain among individuals diagnosed with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.

Keywords: disinfection; hemostasis; irreversible; ktp; naocl; postoperative pain relief; pulpitis; pulpotomy.