Analgesic Efficacy of Etoricoxib following Third Molar Surgery: A Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the clinical efficacy of etoricoxib in comparison with traditional NSAIDs for postoperative pain after third molar surgery. METHODS: The quality of studies found in PubMed and Google Scholar was evaluated with Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool. Data on total consumption of rescue analgesics, number of patients using rescue analgesics, global assessment of study treatments, and adverse effects were extracted exclusively from high-quality clinical trials. Each meta-analysis was performed with the Review Manager Software 5.3 for Windows. RESULTS: The qualitative analysis showed that etoricoxib has better analgesic activity when compared with ibuprofen (2 clinical trials) and diclofenac (1 clinical trial). A similar analgesic efficacy between etoricoxib and nonselective Cox-2 NSAIDs was informed in 3/8 studies (2 compared to ibuprofen and 1 to naproxen sodium). Moreover, the number of patients requiring rescue analgesics in the postoperative period showed a statistical difference in favor of etoricoxib when compared to NSAIDs. CONCLUSION: Etoricoxib significantly reduces the number of patients needing rescue analgesics compared to NSAIDs after third molar surgery.