Preoperative intravenous diclofenac for postoperative pain prevention in outpatients

Fifty patients undergoing a standard removal of an impacted lower third molar were given a single dose of 75 mg sodium diclofenac or saline (placebo) intravenously before operation, on a double-blind basis. Pain was measured postoperatively by means of a visual analogue scale hourly for the first 8 h and during the first and second days after operation. Administration of diclofenac resulted in greater pain relief than administration of placebo for the first 3 h after surgery, whereafter the treatments did not differ. The results suggest that intravenous preoperative diclofenac may be useful in some clinical situations but generally it probably offers little benefit over the corresponding oral treatment.