Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2004; 9: 41–2
To examine the effectiveness of homoeopathic Arnica 30X in combination with Hypericum perforatum 30X in patients after third molar surgery relative to placebo.
In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial young male soldiers were medicated after removal of four third molars at a time. Medication was started just before surgery (3 + 3 globoli once) and continued for five postoperative days (3 + 3 globoli three times a day). The main outcome measure trismus was evaluated in terms of maximum interincisal distance on day 2 after surgery. It was sequentially evaluated after each patient. Pain intensities were measured on 100 mm visual analogue scales for 5 days after surgery.
Forty-one patients were randomised. There was no drop out. Both groups were comparable with respect to age and baseline scores but surgery was longer and more severe in the medication group than in the placebo group. On day 2 trismus was slightly reduced in the medication group (difference D = 4.6%, 95% CI –14.9 to 24.3%; P = 0.649). This difference increased after the results had been adjusted for various baseline and surgery parameters (D = 10.1%, 95% CI –0.4 to 20.5%, P = 0.059). Pain intensity was slightly more reduced in the medication group (D = –9.4 mm; 95% CI –20.7 to 1.8 mm; P = 0.101).
Homoeopathic treatment with Arnica 30X and Hypericum perforatum 30X does not seem to influence recovery significantly after third molar surgery.
