Ibuprofen Versus Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen Postoperatively in Patients Needing Root Canal Therapy

Pain, Postoperative Clinical Trial

Official title:

An Evaluation of Postoperative Pain Using Ibuprofen Versus Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen in Patients With Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis and Symptomatic Apical Periodontitis

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03631433
• Other study ID #: 2015H0433
• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 4
• Start date: February 10, 2016
• Est. completion date: July 17, 2017

Study information

• Verified date: April 2021
• Source: Ohio State University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare ibuprofen versus an ibuprofen/acetaminophen combination for postoperative pain control in patients requiring root canal treatment with a tooth that is painful to cold and biting.

Methodology: Following regular root canal treatment, patients randomly received identical appearing tablets of 600 mg ibuprofen or 600 mg ibuprofen/650 mg acetaminophen to be taken every 6 hours as needed for pain. A 4-day diary was used to record pain and medication use.

Description:

This was a single-center, double-blind, interventional trial where (randomly) one group received ibuprofen and the other group received ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

Before the experiment, the ibuprofen and ibuprofen/acetaminophen groups were assigned 6-digit random numbers. The number assignment determined which drug regimen would be administered postoperatively for each patient. Only the random numbers were recorded on the data collection sheet in order to maintain blinding of the experiment.

The blinding of the ibuprofen and ibuprofen/acetaminophen medications was done as follows. A registered pharmacist compounded identical appearing tablets of 200 mg ibuprofen and tablets of 200 mg ibuprofen/216.7 mg acetaminophen. The tablets were placed in identical-appearing bottles (60 tabs of 200 mg ibuprofen or 60 tabs of a combination of 200 mg ibuprofen/216.7 mg acetaminophen). The pharmacist prepared the master code sheet and assigned the random numbers to the bottles. Therefore, the medication was blind to both the patient and the operator. A copy of the master list of random numbers was supplied by the compounding pharmacist solely to the lead researcher and was not made available to anyone else during the data collection period.

At the end of the debridement appointment, the patient received either a bottle containing 60 tabs of 200 mg ibuprofen or 60 tabs of 200 mg ibuprofen/216.7 mg acetaminophen. The patients were instructed to take 3 tablets every 6 hours as needed for pain.

The patients received a diary for 4 days post-treatment to record pain, percussion pain, and the amount and type of study medications taken. Patients were instructed to tap on the tooth that had emergency endodontic treatment and record this as their percussion pain. Patients recorded their pain levels on a VAS as described earlier for postoperative treatment pain. Starting on the morning after their appointment, patients also recorded the number of study medications taken within each 24-hour period.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 102
• Est. completion date: July 17, 2017
• Est. primary completion date: May 1, 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 65 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. mandibular (bottom) or maxillary (top) posterior (back) tooth requiring root canal treatment

2. mandibular (bottom) or maxillary (top) posterior (back) tooth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis and symptomatic apical periodontitis (painful tooth to cold and biting)

2. between the ages of 18 and 65 years of age 3. American Society of Anesthesiologist classification I

Exclusion Criteria:

1. patients younger than 18 or older than 65 years of age

2. American Society of Anesthesiologist classification II or higher

3. allergies or contraindications to ibuprofen

4. allergies or contraindications to acetaminophen

5. pregnancy

6. inability to give informed consent

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Pain, Postoperative

Intervention

Drug:
• Ibuprofen 600 mg
identical appearing tablets containing 600 mg of ibuprofen
• ibuprofen 600 mg and acetaminophen 650 mg
identical appearing tablets of the combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Ohio State University

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Heft Parker Visual Analog Scale Pain Scale Pain Measurements	Heft-Parker Visual Analog Scale measurements (0-170mm scale) Higher values are a worse outcome.	4 day postoperative survey
Primary	Number of Participants	Number of participants requiring escape pills	4 day postoperative survey