Effectiveness of tramadol compared to lignocaine as local anesthesia in the extraction of firm teeth: a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare the local anesthetic effect of tramadol with that of lignocaine in the extraction of immobile (grade 0) maxillary first molars. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind, equally balanced, controlled trial conducted on a sample population of 116 patients. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: group A (control) and group B (study). Group A and group B participants received 1.8 ml of 2% lignocaine without adrenaline and 1.8 ml of 5% tramadol, respectively through the supra-periosteal infiltration technique before extraction. Intraoperative pain was recorded on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and was evaluated using two unpaired t-tests. RESULTS: Intraoperative pain was evaluated in both the control and study groups. In the control group, the mean VAS score was 0.71 ± 0.81, while in the study group, the mean intraoperative VAS score was 1.21 ± 0.86, with the difference between the two mean values being statistically significant (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Tramadol has a less potent local anesthetic effect than lignocaine. As a higher dose of tramadol is required to obtain the desired anesthetic effect, it should be used as a supplement to lignocaine in extensive surgical procedures. It can also be used in patients allergic to lignocaine.