Piezoelectric Surgery Is Effective in Reducing Pain, Swelling, and Trismus After Removal of Impacted Lower Third Molars: A Meta-Analysis.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Surgery of impacted lower third molars may be associated with postoperative complications. The aim of this study is to determine whether piezoelectric surgery is effective in reducing pain, swelling, and trismus compared to conventional rotary instruments during extraction of impacted lower third molars. METHODS: For this systematic review, the searches were performed independently by 2 researchers. Randomized clinical trials that used the piezoelectric instrument for the removal of impacted lower third molars in humans were included. The predictor variable was the study group (piezo surgery vs rotary instruments). The main outcome was the analysis of postoperative pain, swelling, and trismus. Data analysis included risk of bias assessment (RoB 2 Cochrane) and meta-analysis with heterogeneity based on random effects I2 and 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: In the initial results, 956 articles were revised and after applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, the final sample was composed of 18 publications, all being randomized clinical trials. The results of this meta-analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in pain scores with a Cohen's d of -0.95 [CI 95% = -1.23 to -0.67] of high clinical impact (P < .001). In the piezo group there was a significant increase in mouth opening of 4.29 [CI 95% = 2.33 to 6.25] mm (P < .001). Regarding swelling, Tragus-Ang and Go-eye, both showed a significant reduction in the piezo group (P < .001). There was a significant increase of 7.32 [CI 95% = 4.40 to 10.24] minutes in the piezo group (P < .00001), and none of the studies showed a significant risk of bias. CONCLUSIONS: Piezo proved to be effective in reducing pain, swelling, and trismus in third molar surgeries even with longer surgical time, but due to the lack of standardization in primary studies regarding swelling, new, controlled and standardized studies should be carried out with the objective of proving the effectiveness of this therapeutic modality in the reduction of postoperative swelling.