Study tests efficacy of local anaesthetics used in wisdom tooth surgery

Compared to Articaine, Ropivacaine and Bupivacaine provide longer pain-relieving and anaesthetic advantages, as a study published in the Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery found.

This study by Kirandeep Kaur et al. compared the anaesthetic potential of Articaine 4%, Bupivacaine 0.5% and Ropivacaine 0.5% (with 1:200,000 adrenaline) during the impacted mandibular third molar surgery.

Overall, 75 patients were randomly appointed into 3 equal groups of 25 each to evaluate the start of anaesthetic action, the duration of surgery and anaesthesia, and ease of pain after surgery. Pain levels were estimated at different time points via a visual analogue scale.

Articaine had a considerably quicker onset time (1.14 minutes) compared to Ropivacaine (2.18 minutes) and Bupivacaine (2.33 minutes) (P < 0.001). However, Bupivacaine (483.6 minutes of anaesthesia, 464 minutes of pain relief) and Ropivacaine (426.6 minutes of anaesthesia, 459 minutes of pain relief) provided longer durations than Articaine (232.8 minutes of anaesthesia, 191.4 minutes of pain relief) (P < 0.001). Momentous differences were observed in pain scores at the 6th hour of the surgery amongst the groups.