Page 139 - Demo

Effect of periapical surgery on oral health-related quality of life1377Postoperative complicationsSeven (5.3%) patients with a postoperative infection presented with increasing swelling at the surgical site on postoperative day 6. The abscess was drained, followed by a 5-day oral course of 500 mg amoxicillin three times a day. The patients with a postoperative infection had a significantly higher OHIP-14 score on the fifth postoperative day and a significantly higher pain score on the sixth postoperative day, which corresponded with the day that the abscess was drained (Tables 1 and 2). DiscussionIn the present study, we assessed how periapical surgery affects postoperative OHRQoL and found the greatest effect of periapical surgery on OHRQoL and NRS pain scores during the first postoperative day, gradually decreasing through the first postoperative week. Compared to earlier studies on postoperative OHRQoL and pain after third molar surgery, periapical surgery only had a mild to moderate effect during the first postoperative week [19-21]. This finding is supported by other studies that found maximal postoperative symptoms on days 1 to 3, which then generally subsided [5-6]. In the present study, we found no significant differences in mean OHIP-14 scores between males and females. Postoperative pain is not uncommon following periapical surgery, and is usually of short duration, with a maximum intensity either on the day of the surgical procedure or the next day [3,7,9,14]. In the present study, the mean NRS pain score was highest during the first 3 days. The mean NRS pain score was 3.25 (SD 2.47) on day 1, decreasing to 2.57 (SD 2.42) on day 2 and gradually decreasing through the week. Iqbal et al. [11] reported a mean pain score on day 1 of 3.17 (SD 2.03), and other studies have reported mean peak visual analog scale (VAS) scores of approximately 30, which is comparable to the present study [3-4].Garcia et al. found the highest pain score on day 2 [10].The postoperative mean pain score is influenced by the analgesics taken by patients and, as such, do not truly reflect the real pain caused by the surgery. To obtain a real measurement of the pain after periapical surgery, patients