Combined prednisone and partial root canal therapy for acute irreversible pulpitis in third molars: a randomized controlled trial

Objective To study the effect of oral prednisone combined with partial root canal therapy on acute irreversible pulpitis pain in third molars. Methods A total of 131 patients with acute irreversible pulpitis of the third molar treated in the emergency department from September 2016 to December 2017 in Shaoxing People’s Hospital were selected and been divided into experimental group and control group according to the principle of prospective, random, and contrast. 66 patients in the experimental group received combination prednisone and partial root canal therapy, and 65 patients in the control group received partial root canal therapy. The VAS scores at each time point during treatment, the doses of analgesics and anesthetics used during treatment, the number of return visits within 72 hours after treatment, and treatment comfort were analyzed and compared. And the SPSS 19.0 statistical software was used to compare two sets of biological quantitative data using t-test or rank sum test. Count data were compared using Chi-square test and exact Fisher test. Results After 24 hours of intervention, the VAS scores of both groups decreased, and the VAS scores of the experimental group decreased more significantly. The VAS scores of the experimental group were lower than those of the control group, and the proportion of patients with a VAS score of 0.05); The proportion of return visit patients in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). In the end, the scores and total scores of each dimension of the GCQ scale in the experimental group were higher than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Corticosteroid prednisone can effectively relieve the pain symptoms of irreversible pulpitis in a short period of time and improve the patient's treatment comfort. It can be used as a simple and quick alternative to partial root canal treatment to help clinical planning of endodontic treatment under the best analgesic conditions. Key words: Prednisone; Partial root canal therapy; Third molar acute irreversible pulpitis; Randomized control