Intracanal Analgesic Solutions to Control Interappointment Pain during Root Canal Treatment in Patients with Symptomatic Irreversible Pulpitis - A Pilot Study

Abstract

Mefenamic acid is a Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug belonging to anthranilic acid group while Aceclofenac is an acetic acid derivative. Aceclofenac is a non selective cyclooxygenase inhibitor while Mefenamic acid is a potent cyclooxygenase inhibitor with both central and peripheral actions.  The use of Mefenamic acid and Aceclofenac has reduced due to their side effect of gastrointestinal irritation. The idea of this study is to use Mefenamic acid and Aceclofenac as intracanal agents to achieve localized action without having systemic side effects. Patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis with symptomatic apical periodontitis were identified and divided into three groups of 10 each. After cleaning and shaping of the root canals, 0.1ml of the analgesic solution was injected within the root canals. The pain was evaluated at the end of 6 hours. There was significant reduction in pain in patients who received intracanal Mefenamic acid followed by the group that received Aceclofenac. This proves that intracanal administration of analgesics controls inter appointment pain during endodontic treatment and also prevents systemic side effects that are likely to occur due to oral  use of the drugs.