Objective and subjective comparison of submucosal and intravenous routes of single-dose preoperative dexamethasone for mandibular third molar surgery-a prospective randomized observer-blind study.

PURPOSE: Adjuvant corticosteroid administration through local routes has gained popularity due to ease of technique, lesser morbidity and presumed advantage of achieving therapeutic dosage at the site. To evaluate this, present study has compared submucosal route with an intravenous route control using single-dose preoperative dexamethasone. The study investigated objective facial measurements, mouth opening and compared them with subjective scores on a visual analogue scale and quality of life (QOL) recovery questionnaire. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized, open-label study with blinded end-point assessment of submucosal and intravenous routes of single preoperative dexamethasone administration, in patients undergoing mandibular third molar surgery. Patients were randomly divided into two groups and received 8 mg DX as either submucosal or intravenous injection 5 min after administration of local anaesthesia. Data was collected at 2nd and 7th post-op intervals. Statistical analysis was done keeping a P value < 0.05 as significant. RESULTS: Thirty patients were evaluated in the study. SM route behaved similarly to IV route in producing changes in facial measurements [P = 0.533], mouth opening [P = 0.533] and pain [VAS] scores [P = 0.533] at early and late intervals. Questionnaire subscale scores were not significantly different between groups, but total mean score was significant [P = 0.050] with a measure of variance 17.54 in group IV compared with 39.54 of group SM showing that subjectively, IV route brought better recovery. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Submucosal route can be an effective less invasive, painless, straightforward alternative to systemic administration of corticosteroid for improving QOL recovery in mandibular third molar surgery.