An interventional study of Dexamethasone 8 mg IM and Normal Saline IM in Impacted Mandibular Third Molar, Postoperative Pain and Trismus, sponsored by Al Salam University. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 35 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-03-05.
Sponsored by Al Salam University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This study evaluated whether giving a single dose of long-acting corticosteroids before wisdom tooth surgery reduces pain, facial swelling, and limited jaw opening (trismus) after surgery. Adult patients aged 18-35 undergoing impacted lower wisdom tooth removal were randomly assigned to receive either 8 mg dexamethasone or a placebo before surgery. Pain, swelling, and jaw mobility were measured at several time points after surgery. The study aimed to determine if preoperative corticosteroids improve recovery and reduce discomfort following surgery.
Surgical removal of impacted lower wisdom teeth often causes pain, swelling, and reduced jaw opening (trismus) due to tissue inflammation. This study examined whether giving a single dose of long-acting corticosteroids before surgery could reduce these postoperative problems.
Adult patients aged 18-35 years who required surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars were randomly assigned to receive either 8 mg dexamethasone (treatment group) or a placebo (control group) 30 minutes before surgery. The study measured pain using a visual analog scale, facial swelling with standard facial landmarks, and jaw opening with calipers at multiple time points after surgery. Analgesic consumption was also recorded.
The goal was to determine whether preoperative corticosteroid administration could improve recovery, reduce discomfort, and enhance patient comfort after third molar surgery. This information may help guide oral surgeons in postoperative care and improve outcomes for patients undergoing similar procedures.
5,640 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain, Postoperative; 1,230 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 60 is below the median of 75 across 4,821 interventional studies indexed under Pain, Postoperative.
Browse Pain, Postoperative studies →Al Salam University is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
ASA physical status
The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Immunosuppression
A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.
Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants receive a single dose of 8 mg dexamethasone administered intramuscularly 30 minutes before impacted mandibular third molar surgery. This intervention is intended to reduce postoperative pain, facial swelling, and limited jaw opening (trismus). Participants, care providers, investigators, and outcome assessors are blinded to group allocation.
Drug: Dexamethasone 8 mg IM
Participants receive a single dose of normal saline (placebo) administered intramuscularly 30 minutes before impacted mandibular third molar surgery. This arm serves as the control group for comparison with the dexamethasone group. Blinding is maintained for participants, care providers, investigators, and outcome assessors.
Drug: Normal Saline IM
Patients receive a single intramuscular injection of 8 mg dexamethasone 30 minutes before surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. This intervention is intended to reduce postoperative pain, facial swelling, and trismus. No additional steroids are allowed postoperatively.
Patients receive a single intramuscular injection of 2 mL normal saline 30 minutes before surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. This placebo control is used to compare the effect of preoperative dexamethasone on postoperative pain, facial swelling, and trismus.
Postoperative pain
Postoperative pain will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a 10-cm horizontal line ranging from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst pain imaginable. Higher scores indicate greater pain intensity.
Time frame: 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours postoperatively.
Facial Swelling Measured by Linear Facial Measurements (Tragus-Pogonion and Gonion-Lateral Canthus Distances)
Facial swelling will be assessed using standardized linear facial measurements between anatomical landmarks (tragus to pogonion and gonion to lateral canthus) using a flexible measuring tape. Measurements will be recorded in millimeters (mm). An increase in distance compared to preoperative values indicates greater facial swelling.
Time frame: Preoperatively, Day 2, and Day 7 postoperatively
Trismus (Maximum interincisal opening)
Trismus will be measured by maximum interincisal mouth opening using calipers.
Time frame: Preoperatively, Day 2, and Day 7 postoperatively
Analgesic consumption
Total number of rescue analgesic tablets (ibuprofen 400 mg) taken postoperatively.
Time frame: Postoperative days 1-7
Number of rescue analgesic tablets taken
Number of additional analgesic tablets consumed by each participant after surgery.
Time frame: Postoperative days 1-7
PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.
Plan to share: No — The individual participant data (IPD) will not be shared outside the study team due to privacy and confidentiality considerations.
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Feb 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Studies of the drug tested here: Dexamethasone
Al Salam University