Role of Serratiopeptidase and Dexamethasone in the Control of Postoperative Swelling

B Pramod Krishna; B Praveen Reddy; D S Yashavanth Kumar; M Ummar; Vijay Shekhar; Rahul Vinay Chandra Tiwari

doi:10.4103/ams.ams_249_19

Role of Serratiopeptidase and Dexamethasone in the Control of Postoperative Swelling

Ann Maxillofac Surg. 2020 Jan-Jun;10(1):108-113. doi: 10.4103/ams.ams_249_19. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Authors

B Pramod Krishna¹, B Praveen Reddy², D S Yashavanth Kumar³, M Ummar⁴, Vijay Shekhar⁵, Rahul Vinay Chandra Tiwari⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Chhattisgarh Dental College and Research Institute, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh, India.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental College, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur, India.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dental Sciences, Davangere, Karnataka, India.
⁴ Department of OMFS, MES Dental College, Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India.
⁵ PHC, Patna, Bihar, India.
⁶ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad, Telangana, India.

Abstract

Aim: The present study is designed to evaluate and compare the ability of serratiopeptidase and dexamethasone to control edema following the surgical removal of mandibular third molar.

Materials and methods: Two drugs, dexamethasone and serratiopeptidase, were compared for its efficacy in reducing the postoperative swelling. A total of 100 patients requiring the surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molar were randomly divided into two groups, consisting of 50 patients each. One group was administered 1 mg dexamethasone, one-half h preoperatively and every 8^th hourly for 3 days postoperatively. The other group was given 10 mg serratiopeptidase every 8^th hourly for 3 days postoperatively. The swelling was measured on 1^st, 2^nd, 5^th, and 7^th postoperative days. The results of this study showed that serratiopeptidase was effective in reducing swelling from 2^nd to 5^th postoperative day, and dexamethasone was effective in reducing swelling from 1^st to 2^nd postoperative day, further, it also reduced the swelling from 2^nd to 5^th postoperative day.

Results: There was highly significant difference in the facial measurement between serratiopeptidase and dexamethasone group on postoperative day 2 (the mean difference was 62.5 with P < 0.001) and statistically significant difference on postoperative day 1, day 5, and day 7 (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: It can be concluded that serratiopeptidase, a proteolytic enzyme and dexamethasone, a long-acting corticosteroid was effective in reducing the swelling, but dexamethasone was more effective than serratiopeptidase in reducing the swelling.

Keywords: Dexamethasone; impaction; serratiopeptidase.