In a prospective study involving thirty people suffering from bilateral symmetrically impacted mandibular third molars, Mannitol infiltration remarkably improved postoperative pain and trismus, indicating potential enhancements in patient comfort and recovery. Researchers sought to explore if the local injection of 0.9 M mannitol can alleviate postoperative pain, restricted jaw movement, and swelling in those undergoing oral surgery.

Inclusion criteria for this single-blind, split-mouth study encompassed factors like the absence of current medication, anesthesia allergies absence, systemic ailments, and smokers. Exclusion criteria incorporated drug intake, poor oral hygiene, alcohol/cigarette usage, diabetes, patient non-compliance, systemic/gastrointestinal disorders, surgical site infection, and allergies to mannitol/anesthetic. Therapeutic injection, categorized into either 0.9 M mannitol solution or distilled water was the  predictor variable.

Pain was the key endpoint, while analgesic consumption, participant satisfaction, trismus, and swelling were the secondary outcomes ascertained. Statistical assessment comprised repeated measures along with paired t-tests, with significance set at P < .05. The study involved 30 subjects, with an average age of 22.6 ± 3.59 years, consisting of 6 males and 24 females. In the test group, there was a considerable drop in the severity of pain from 5.30 on the day of surgery to 0.00, followed by subsequent values of 2.97, 1.30, 0.40, 0.17, and 0.03.

Similarly, the control group experienced a drop from 7.68 to 0.00, with values of 4.73, 2.67, 0.97, 0.23, and 0.07. This difference was statistically profound (P < .001). No vital differences were witnessed in swelling at T1, T3, T5, and T7 (P > .05). Nevertheless, the intervention arm illustrated betterment in maximum mouth opening at T1, T3, T5, and T7 (P = .011) as opposed to the control group. Hence, local injection of 0.9 M mannitol is beneficial to offer relief from postoperative symptoms in third molar surgery.