According to the findings of a recent study published in “Journal of Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery”, nimesulide and ibuprofen demonstrated beneficial overall preemptive effects in patients undergoing third molar surgeries.

This randomized controlled clinical trial was performed to explore the preemptive impact of nimesulide, ibuprofen, acetaminophen, ketoprofen, and dexamethasone on postsurgery pain and edema in surgical removal of the impacted third molars.

The recruited participants underwent bilateral operations at two distinct times and were randomized to receive either a test drug or placebo (split-mouth). Evaluation of the postsurgery pain, rescue medication, and edema were done at different times. In the crossover repeated measures design, the study power was greater than 80% for the noted effect size. The response variable was differences between placebo and test drug. For every outcome, the generalized estimation equation models were suitably adjusted.

Notably, there were five groups (n=20 each). As found, nimesulide and ibuprofen displayed greater overall effects on pain scores over time, without any vital inter-group differences. Acetaminophen illustrated considerably reduced overall effects in controlling edema over time in comparison with other test drugs that displayed comparable effects. The reduced quantity of rescue medication was also noted for nimesulide and ibuprofen, without any differences between them.

The study authors concluded that nimesulide and ibuprofen should be considered on a case-by-case basis as the therapeutic choice in the decision-making process for preemptive pain relief in third molar surgeries.