Do patient traits affect the Ibuprofen gargle success for pain after molar extraction?

A recent study published in ‘Cureus’ highlighted the effectiveness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in managing postoperative pain varies with patient age and sex. As revealed, females and young patients appear to experience greater short-term pain relief with the use of Ibuprofen gargle after the mandibular third molar surgery. 

This post-hoc analysis by Yasumasa Kakei et al. identified factors (such as age, gender, etc.) contributing to the differences in response to ibuprofen gargle following the extraction of third molars.

The study included 35 Japanese patients from an earlier randomized, crossover study. The study participants were categorized as responders or non-responders keeping in view the changes in the pain scores of the visual analogue scale (VAS). Researchers compared characteristics such as age, gender, tooth extraction reasons, site, classification systems (Winter and Pell and Gregory classifications), physician experience and surgery duration. 

Univariate analysis specified age and gender as influential predictors. The findings showed that younger patients and females were more likely to experience pain relief from ibuprofen gargles, with age (per -10 years) having an odds ratio of 4.163 and sex (female) having an odds ratio of 9.977 as noteworthy predictors of pain-relieving response.