title: Influence of primary and secondary closure of surgical wound after impacted mandibular third molar removal on postoperative pain and swelling--a comparative and split mouth study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the present study was to compare the influence of primary and secondary closure of the surgical wound on postoperative pain and swelling after removal of impacted mandibular third molars.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 93 patients with bilaterally impacted mandibular third molars were included in the present study. All the patients underwent surgical removal of the bilaterally impacted teeth at the same appointment. Primary closure (group I) was performed on 1 side and secondary closure (group II) was performed on the other side. All the patients were assessed for pain and swelling using the visual analog scale, and the data were collected and analyzed with the paired t test after 7 days.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The swelling in group I was greater than that in group II, with a statistically significant difference (P < .001). The pain was worse in group I than in group II; a difference that also was statistically significant (P < .05). Alveolar osteitis occurred in 4 patients (4.3%) in group I and 3 patients (3.2%) in group II.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results have shown that the patients in the secondary closure group had a significantly lesser amount of pain and swelling postoperatively than the primary closure group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Saveetha University, Chennai, India. anilomfs@gmail.com
authors.forename: Anil Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Danda
authors.forename: Murali
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krishna Tatiparthi
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.forename: Avinash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siddareddi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004487:Edema / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000601:surgery*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D013536:Suture Techniques; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000379:methods*; D014095:Tooth, Impacted / Q000601:surgery*; D014945:Wound Healing; D055815:Young Adult