Intraosseous anaesthesia as a primary technique for mandibular posterior teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis

Effectiveness of different anesthetic methods for mandibular posterior teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review aimed to assess the effectiveness of anesthetic methods for mandibular posterior teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis, comparing to the inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) by meta-analysis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Studies were identified from Cochrane Library, Embase, Lilacs, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases up to May 2021. Randomized clinical trials comparing the anesthetic success rate of IANB and any other alternative anesthetic method were included. The quality of the selected studies was assessed by the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. Meta-analyses using Mantel-Haenszel method and random-effect models were performed to find the pooled estimates of risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). The quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach.

RESULTS

Twenty-two studies were selected, which included fourteen anesthetic methods. Two studies were classified as high risk of bias, five as uncertain risk and fifteen as low risk. Vazirani-Akinosi nerve block (VANB) [RR = 1.27; p = 0.007; 95% CI, 1.07-1.52; I² = 0%] and intraosseous injection (IOI) [RR = 1.48; p = 0.04; 95% CI, 1.02-2.15; I² = 46%] had superior effectiveness compared to IANB, with low certainty of evidence, as well as buccal infiltrations associated with IANB (BI + IANB) [RR = 1.84; p = 0.004; 95% CI, 1.22-2.79; I² = 52%], with very low certainty.

CONCLUSION

Evidence suggests that buccal infiltrations associated with IANB, VANB, and IOI are more effective than IANB at anesthetizing posterior mandibular teeth with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Alternative primary methods of anesthesia might be indicated for mandibular posterior teeth presenting symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.

Intraosseous anesthesia in symptomatic irreversible pulpitis: Impact of bone thickness on perception and duration of pain

Background

Intraosseous anesthesia (IO) allows the anesthetic solution to be injected directly into the cancellous bone. The anesthetic solution immediately reaches the periapical region, and thus the axonal area of the nerve, where it can temporarily disable the sodium pump. The effect is felt almost without any time delay, and only a small amount of anesthetic solution is required.

Methods

This study aims to investigate the efficacy of IO using the Anesto® device after infiltration anesthesia (IA) and/or inferior alveolar nerve block anesthesia (IANB) failed to work in symptomatic irreversible pulpitis (hot tooth). The 33 patients included in the study were treated additionally with 1.7 ml articaine hydrochloride with 1:100,000 epinephrine hydrochloride (Ultracain® D-S, Sanofi-Aventis, Frankfurt, Germany) IO.

Results

The electrical pulp test showed that 95.76% of the volunteers reacted positively to the combination of IANB or IA with the IO. In women, the additive IO was effective at 97.22%. In men, the IO led to pain elimination in 94.00% of cases. The duration of the IO was less than a quarter of an hour (13.03 min). The IO worked longer in women than in men (13.61 min vs. 12.33 min). Overall, more than every third tooth that needed trepanation was located in the posterior area of the mandible (36.4%). Treatment of hot teeth in this area was associated with an increased pulse rate and increased residual pain. There was a moderate correlation (Spearman-Rho [IRI] = 0.280) between the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score and bone density, and a significant correlation (IRI = 0.612) between subjective residual pain and bone width. The IO resulted in a moderate, transient increase in the pulse rate by approximately 20 bpm. This is similar to the temporary increase in heart rate after conventional anesthesia techniques in non-preloaded patients and can be considered clinically irrelevant.

Conclusion

IO with the Anesto® device as an extension and deepening of local pain elimination is recommended for the treatment of hot teeth.

Evaluation of intraosseous computerized injection system (QuickSleeper™) vs conventional infiltration anaesthesia in paediatric oral health care: A multicentre, single-blind, combined split-mouth and parallel-arm randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Conventional infiltration anaesthesia (CIA) is the most frequently used in paediatric oral health care. However, other techniques are available, such as intraosseous anaesthesia (IOA), that can beneficiate from newly developed technologies.

AIM

To compare the pain caused by CIA and IOA delivered by the computerized system (QuickSleeper™) in children.

DESIGN

We used an innovative design consisting in simultaneously conducting a multicentre split-mouth and parallel-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) to allow for increased power. The primary outcome was pain reported by the patient on a visual analogue scale (0-10 cm) concerning the insertion of the needle and injection.

RESULTS

A total of 30 children were included in the split-mouth RCT and 128 in the parallel-arm RCT. We combined treatment effect estimates by using an inverse-variance weighting meta-analysis approach. Pain scores were significantly decreased with IOA vs CIA (mean difference -0.69 cm, 95% confidence intervals -1.13 to -0.25 cm). For each patient enrolled in the split-mouth RCT, about five were enrolled in the parallel-arm RCT, which allowed for not losing any eligible patients.

CONCLUSION

Pain during the insertion of the needle and injection was less with IOA vs CIA in children. The design of this study allowed for increasing statistical power and using all generated evidence. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02084433).