The Predictive Value of Cold Pack Test for Pain After Third Molar Surgery

Early identification of patients who are prone to postoperative pain may provide individualization of postoperative analgesia strategies. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the cold pack test is associated with postoperative pain levels after mandibular third molar surgery. This prospective cohort study included healthy male patients admitted to Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of a tertiary health-care center between June 2022 and December 2022 and scheduled for lower third molar extraction. Those who had used any analgesic within the past 10 days or had a history of intolerance/allergy to analgesics were excluded. The primary predictor variable was pain tolerance, measured using the endurance test score. Subjects were grouped into two categories, low tolerance test score (withdrew the hand from the cold pack in