Efficacy of hyaluronic acid gel in management of post-operative complications after removal of third molar - A Systematic review

Abstract

The surgical removal of third molar is the commonly performed procedure in oral and maxillofacial surgery. It takes several days to recover from the complications following removal of the third molar. The common postoperative complications are pain, swelling, trismus, alveolar osteitis after third molar removal. The aim of this systematic review was to thoroughly analyse the existing literature to evaluate the effect of intra socket versus extra socket application of hyaluronic acid gel in management of postoperative complications after third molar removal. The objective of this systematic review is to assess the efficacy of intra socket versus extra socket application of hyaluronic acid gel compared to placebo or no treatment in management of post-operative complications after removal of third molar. The data bases of PubMed, Cochrane and google scholar were searched for the related topics along with a complimentary manual search of all oral surgery journals till October 2018. The data collection form was based on analysis of included studies for their quality assessment and publication bias. The primary outcome measure was post-operative pain and the secondary outcome measures were post-operative swelling & post-operative mouth opening. Three articles were selected based on the inclusion criteria. The included studies were randomized controlled trials. The clinical evidence from this review shows hyaluronic acid gel application is found to be beneficial in reducing pain, swelling & trismus after surgical removal of third molar. After contemplating its pivotal role in various anti- inflammatory diseases, it is prudent to consider as an alternative in managing postoperative sequelae of third molar removal.