Reduction in the incidence of alveolar osteitis in patients treated with the SaliCept patch, containing Acemannan hydrogel.
OBJECTIVE
In the present study, we compared the incidence of alveolar osteitis (AO) in patients treated with either clindamycin-soaked Gelfoam (Pharmacia and Upjohn Co, Kalamazoo, MI) or SaliCept Patches (Carrington Laboratories, Inc, Irving, TX). The SaliCept Patch is a freeze-dried pledget that contains Acemannan Hydrogel (Carrington Laboratories) obtained from the clear inner gel of Aloe vera L.


METHODS
A retrospective evaluation was performed of the records of 587 patients (1,031 sockets) whose extraction sites had been treated with clindamycin-soaked Gelfoam. A prospective trial was conducted in which 607 patients (1,064 sockets) had 2 SaliCept Patches placed immediately after extraction. The same surgeon treated all patients.


RESULTS
Analysis restricted to mandibular third molar sites showed that 78 of 975 sites (8.0%) in the Gelfoam group developed AO, whereas only 11 of 958 sites (1.1%) in the SaliCept group developed AO (P <.0001). Further analysis of all extraction sites revealed that the incidence of AO in the Gelfoam group was 7.6% compared with 1.1% in the SaliCept-treated group (P <.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The study results suggest that the SaliCept Patch significantly reduces the incidence of AO compared with clindamycin-soaked Gelfoam.
Poor
Miles R
MR
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, USA. Txpoors@aol.com
Hall
John E
JE
Poor
Anne S
AS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000504:Aloe; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002981:Clindamycin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004368:Dry Socket / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005781:Gelatin Sponge, Absorbable / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006490:Hemostatics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008351:Mannans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000009:adverse effects; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D006490:Hemostatics; D008351:Mannans; D010936:Plant Extracts; D002981:Clindamycin; C058414:acemannan