Acupuncture on anxiety and inflammatory events following surgery of mandibular third molars: a split-mouth,randomized, triple-blind clinical trial

The aim of this study was to compare the effects of acupuncture and placebo acupuncture on the control of pain, oedema, and trismus following the extraction of third molars and on the control of preoperative anxiety. Sixteen patients (mean age 22.5 ± 3.45 years) each underwent four acupuncture sessions, one prior to each surgery and the others at 24, 48, and 72 hours after each surgery (left and right tooth). Oedema was determined using measurements of the face and trismus was determined by maximum mouth opening at baseline and at 24, 48, 72 hours and 7 days following surgery. Postoperative pain was evaluated by the patients using a visual analogue scale (VAS) at 24, 48, and 72 hours following surgery. Anxiety was evaluated using the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory and a VAS at baseline and before and after acupuncture prior to surgery. The statistical analysis was performed using the paired t-test and Wilcoxon test. Acupuncture showed a better performance in the control of oedema at 48 hours (P = 0.026), 72 hours (P = 0.046), and 7 days (P = 0.040) when compared to placebo. There was no statistically significant difference between the acupuncture and placebo groups in the control of pain, trismus, or anxiety.