Immediate postoperative anesthesia with either lidocaine or bupivacaine: A short‐term clinical response

Long-acting local anesthetic, notably bupivacaine, has been given immediately following dental procedures to reduce the amount of postoperative pain and discomfort. This study aimed to study the immediate effects of bupivacaine compared with a shorter acting local anesthetic (lidocaine) and a placebo (0.9% sodium chloride). Seventy-six patients underwent various dental surgeries where reflection of the soft tissue was performed. At the conclusion of surgery, patients were randomized into one of the three groups and the appropriate blinded cartridge of bupivacaine, lidocaine, or placebo was injected into the surgical site. Patients reported their pain on a numeric rating scale from 0-10 (NRS-21) as well as the number of pain medications taken via a phone application at 4, 8, 12, 24, and 48 h after the surgery. Demographic and secondary variables such as amount of anesthetic given and length of surgery were also collected. While NRS-21 data suggested a consistent trend toward decreased pain with both bupivacaine and lidocaine administration compared with placebo, there were no significant differences in pain response or pain medication usage at any time between the three groups.