RESUMO
Background: Third molar surgery is frequently associated with postoperative discomfort such as pain, edema andtrismus. We aimed to evaluate the current evidence on the efficacy of adjunctive corticosteroid therapy in improving patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery.Material and Methods: This systematic review assessed and searched PubMed, Google scholar, Scopus, web ofscience, clinicaltrials.gov and Cochrane central for controlled trials, up to May 2021. The primary outcome measures were patient-centered outcomes such as quality of life following the use of adjunctive corticosteroid therapyin third molar removal. Only randomized controlled trials published in English language were included.Results: A total of 355 studies were initially identified, and 12 studies were finally included. The results showedthat both methylprednisolone and dexamethasone decreased postoperative side effects such as pain, trismus, andedema and consequently were improving patient reported outcomes. In this regard, none of the included papersreported any significant statistical difference between these two drugs (p > 0.05). The analysis regarding theroute of administration for the corticosteroids showed that local and intravenous injection of dexamethasone hadequivalent effects, and both methods showed better results as compared to simple oral administration.Conclusions: Adjunctive use of corticosteroid drugs may improve patient-centered outcomes following third molar surgery. However, there is no significant difference between drugs and routs of administration. Comparingvarious administration routs, local submucosal injection of dexamethasone seems to be a straightforward, painlessand cost-effective adjunctive therapy. (AU)
