COMPARISON OF PRIMARY AND SECONDARY WOUND CLOSURE OUTCOME AFTER MANDIBULAR 3RD MOLAR IMPACTION SURGERY

Abstract

The postoperative complications associated with mandibular third molar impaction surgery include pain, swelling, trismus along with reduced masticatory capability. One factor associated with these complications is the technique of surgical wound closure. The aim and objective of the present study was to compare the primary and secondary wound closure outcomes (mean trismus) after mandibular 3rd molars impaction surgery.

A Quasi experimental study was conducted in the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Nishtar Institute of Dentistry, Multan over a perivd of six months. A total of 70 patients were equally divided into “Group A” (Primary closure) and “Group B” (secondary closure). Data was collected on prescribed Proforma and entered in SPSS version 20. Qualitative data like gender was presented as frequency and percentages. Quantitative data like age and trismus were presented as means and standard deviations. An Independent Sample T-test was applied to compare trismus among study groups.

In the present study, the mean age of participants in groups A and B was 32.49+6.77 and 32.77+7.37 years respectively. In Group A 51.43% were males as compared to Group B in which 57.14% were males. Mean trismus after mandibular 3rd molar impaction surgery with primary and secondary closure was 0.43+0.50 mm and 4.29+0.83 mm respectively. The p-value (p-value=0.001) showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Mean trismus is significantly less in patients treated with secondary wound closure after surgery for impacted mandibular 3rd molars.