EVALUATING EFFECT OF USING COLD SALINE AS FINAL IRRIGANT DURING ENDODONTIC TREATMENT ON POST OPERATIVE PAIN
Abstract
Background and Objective: Postoperative pain (POP) as a result of root canal preparation is a significant side effect of endodontic treatment. Cryotherapy can be used to prevent it. The current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of cold saline irrigation on post-operative pain in patients suffering from pulpal and periapical illnesses.
Methods and materials: Patients who presented to the Outpatient Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics complaining of discomfort in their lower posterior teeth were evaluated for participation in this randomised control trial. After cleaning and shaping, the patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: control or experimental. For 5 minutes, the experimental group got 20ml cold saline (2.5o C) irrigation given to the working length using a sterile cold needle. In the control group, the identical approach was applied with normal saline solution at room temperature. The investigation included 100 samples in total. The patients were subsequently told to keep track of the existence, duration, and intensity of postoperative pain at 6 and 24 hours, as well as painkiller intake.
Results: There was no statistical difference between the two groups. There were more cases of only mild pain in the cryotherapy group (16 patients) compared to the normal saline group (13 patients), and only 8 patients experienced moderate pain in the cryotherapy group whereas 11 patients experienced moderate pain in the normal saline group and 2 patients experienced intense pain in the normal saline group, indicating lower pain scores in the cryotherapy group.
Conclusion: Despite the fact that the cryotherapy group had lower pain scores and analgesic intake, the outcomes of this study were not statistically significant. However, a bigger sample size is needed to demonstrate the efficacy of this unique strategy for lowering postoperative pain.
Keywords: Cold Saline, Cryotherapy, Endodontic Treatment, Postoperative pain