Photogrammetry used to assess post-operative facial swelling in a drug trial.

A trial was designed to test the efficacy of ibuprofen in controlling post-operative pain and swelling following the surgical removal of lower third molar teeth. Because of the rigid criteria imposed on the trial it was not satisfactorily completed but the method of measuring the volume of the swelling by stereometric photogrammetry, which is reproducible, versatile and non-invasive, was considered to be worth reporting in context.