Adverse events of oral analgesics after third molar extraction: A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Abstract
Background: Choosing analgesics after third molar surgery requires balancing efficacy with safety. This network meta-analysis (NMA) aimed to compare and rank the safety profiles, measured by adverse events (AEs) related to medication use, of various single-dose oral analgesic regimens.
Material and methods: Electronic databases were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing single-dose oral analgesics following third molar surgery. The primary outcome was the incidence of any AE reported before discharge. A frequentist NMA was performed to estimate relative risks (RR) and SUCRA-based probabilistic rankings. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using CINeMA.
Results: Twenty-eight RCTs involving 5306 patients were included. NSAID monotherapy demonstrated a significantly higher risk of AEs compared to other non-opioid analgesics and opioid analgesics alone. Conversely, few significant differences were found between most active drugs and placebo. Probabilistic ranking indicated that both nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and placebo had a higher probability of ranking among the least safe options. Significant global inconsistency was detected across the network, and the certainty of the evidence was generally very low to low.
Conclusions: The safety profile of single-dose analgesics in this model is complex. While pairwise comparisons and rankings suggested that NSAIDs might be associated with a higher frequency of adverse events, these…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 5,306 participants or records.
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