Comparison of Effectiveness of Lignocaine and Lignocaine with Pre-Operative Oral Ibuprofen for Pulpectomy in 5 to 9-Year-Old Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Childhood experiences of pain associated with dental treatment can induce dental anxiety. Inferior alveolar nerve blocks are eight times more likely to fail in patients with irreversible pulpitis. Purpose: The objective was to compare the effectiveness of lignocaine and lignocaine with pre-operative oral ibuprofen for pulpectomy in 5 to 9-year-old children. Methods: One hundred and twenty-two children requiring pulpectomy in mandibular posterior teeth were included. The children were assigned to one of the two groups, Treatment group A: Pre-operative with oral ibuprofen and local anaesthesia with 2% lignocaine (with adrenaline 1: 80000); Treatment group B: Pre-operative with oral placebo and local anaesthesia with 2% lignocaine (with 1: 80000 adrenaline). Pain and pulse rate were recorded at baseline, one hour after administration of oral medication, fifteen minutes following administration of Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block (IANB), and also during the course pulpectomy. The results were statistically analysed using chi square test and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Results: In treatment group A, 90.16% children had IANB success. In treatment group B, 9.83% had IANB success. The difference in the success rate between two groups was statistically significant (p<0.001) with an odds ratio of 84.
Conclusion: Oral medication with ibuprofen is effective in increasing the success rate of IANB with lignocaine for the treatment of irreversible pulpitis of 5 to 9-year-old children. (EEJ-2023-09-122)