Comparative analysis of postoperative pain with glycolic acid vs. ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid in endodontic treatment: A randomized clinical trial.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate pain and analgesic intake after endodontic treatment using glycolic acid (GA) or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as the final irrigating solution.

Material and methods: One hundred fifty patients were randomly assigned to two groups for smear layer removal: 17% GA or 17% EDTA. Postoperative pain was assessed at 24, 48 hours and 7 days. The need for analgesic intake was recorded. Descriptive analysis was performed to assess demographics (Student t, Chi-square and Fisher tests) and study outcomes (Mann Whitney, Friedman and Nemenyi) (p<0,05).

Results: Postoperative pain occurred in 52% of the cases. In the 24-hour period, GA had a significantly lower pain score (p<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding the use of analgesic pills.

Conclusions: GA is associated with less postoperative pain at 24 hours compared to EDTA. No statistically significant difference was observed at 48 hours and 7 days. Key words:Postoperative pain, randomized controlled trial, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, glycolic acid, analgesic.