PREOPERATIVE PIROXICAM FOR POSTOPERATIVE ANALGESIA IN DENTAL SURGERY

Fifty patients were allocated randomly to receive placebo or piroxicam 40 mg, 2.5 h before surgical removal of lower third molars under general anaesthesia. A significantly greater number of patients in the piroxicam group did not require opioid analgesia after operation (P < 0.05). The piroxicam group also required fewer doses of paracetamol in the first 24 h after recovery from anaesthesia (P < 0.05), and the time from recovery to first postoperative analgesia was longer in those patients who had received piroxicam (P < 0.05). Piroxicam did not significantly prolong the duration of recovery from anaesthesia. © 1990 Copyright: 1990 British Journal of Anaesthesia.