RESUMO
AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of various routinely used analgesics in the management of pulpal pain preoperatively. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 150 patients were randomly selected and divided into five groups each. At initial visit, a self-administered questionnaire was given, and patients were asked to mark on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) indicating severity of pain at that moment which is taken as a pretreatment VAS score. Group I patients received aceclofenac + paracetamol, Group II: ketorolac tromethamine, Group III: lornoxicam + paracetamol, Group IV: tramadol + paracetamol, and Group V: paracetamol. All the patients are requested to record their pain levels at 4 h, 6 h, 8 h, 24 h, and 48 h by means of VAS scores before and after treatment. RESULTS: There was no significant decrease in frequency of pain when compared in the first three groups, whereas in Group III and Group IV, the patients experienced an effective reduction in pain because of sustained releasing ability of these drugs. Overall, there was no statistically significant differences among all the groups. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that there was no significant difference in reduction of pain preoperatively. However, lornoxicam + paracetamol and tramadol + paracetamol were effective because of their sustained releasing ability. Ketorolac was effective to reduce the pain for shorter duration. Paracetamol can be advised in compromised patients where safety is concerned.
