Evaluation of the effectiveness of tube drain on postoperative discomfort in mandibular third molar surgery: prospective randomized split-mouth study

The present randomized split-mouth study aimed to investigate the clinical effectiveness of postoperative discomfort of the use of a surgical drain after lower third molar extraction. It was conducted a prospective randomized split-mouth study involving 30 patients with bilateral symmetric lower third molar. Each patient underwent two operations for the extraction of impacted teeth: test site (tube drain) and control site (conventional total closure of surgical flap), resulting in 30 cases in the test group, and 30 cases in the control group. Pain, swelling, and mouth opening were evaluated immediately before the surgeries, after 1, 3 and 7 days postoperatively in both groups. Data were analyzed with non-parametric test (Kruskal-Wallis test and the post hoc Dun test, and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test). Facial swelling (p