Melatonin treatment in patients with atypical facial pain: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of melatonin and placebo in the patients with atypical facial pain (AFP).

Method

This double blind randomized controlled study was carried out on 30 patients who were suffering from AFP. During this period, patients were divided in 2 study and control groups. Then, they were treated with melatonin. Melatonin group used four 3-mg daily and placebo group received 4 placebo which were similar in size, shape, color with melatonin until the end of treatment, and then the severity of burning sensation was measured by physician. Sleep quality was measured using the visual analog scale using the Petersburg questionnaire.

Result

The results of the present study show that the use of melatonin and placebo in patients with AFP reduces sensation and improves their sleep quality, although it may not reduce it completely. In this study, severity of burning was 5.71 ± 1.42 after treatment in the study group and 5.93 ± 2.65 in the control group, which was not statistically significant (p = .46). The mean score of sleep before treatment was not significantly different between the study (9 ± 1.23) and the control (8 ± 1.56) groups. The mean score of sleep after treatment between the study group (8 ± 1.45) and the control group (7 ± 1.23) was not significantly different (p = .43).

Conclusion

According to the result of the study, melatonin was not superior placebo in treatment of AFP.