Background: Pain after the root canal is a common issue after the procedure and can have a negative impact on the comfort and satisfaction of patients. The recent developments on endodontics procedures and materials have ignited the increasing popularity of the single-visit root canal treatment as an alternative to the traditional multi-visit root canal treatment. However, there has been a continuous debate on whether the effect of the number of treatment visits on the postoperative pain is significant.
Aim: The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to comparatively determine postoperative pain with a single-visit root canal treatment and multiple-visit root canal treatment.
Materials and Methods: This was a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial that involved 200 participants that needed primary endodontic therapy. They were randomly selected into one of two groups; Group I (single visit root-canal treatment, n=100) and Group II (multiple visit root-canal treatment, n=100). The instruments were used in all the procedures and irrigation was done according to standardized procedures. The Quantification of post-operative nociception was measured on the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at 6, 24, 48, and 7 days and analgesic intake was monitored. The statistical analyses were conducted using STATA software and a p-value below 0.05 was taken to be considered as statistically significant.
Results: The two groups had an increasing reduction of the postoperative pain. Group I showed a much lower mean score on Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at 24 has and 48 has compared with Group II (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference at 6 hours and at 7 days. The degree of consumption of analgesics was very high in the multiple-visit group.
Conclusion: Single-visit root-canal therapy was linked to lower levels of postoperative pain and lower levels of analgesic usage as compared to multi-visit treatment particularly at the initial stages of the postoperative phase.
Keywords: Multiple-visit root canal treatment, Postoperative pain, Randomized clinical trial, Root canal treatment, Single-visit root canal treatment
How to cite this article: Kalita S, Sarangi S, Panzade K, Shah N, Athira M, Karande V, Kashwani R, Comparative Evaluation of Postoperative Pain Following Single Visit and Multiple - Visit Root Canal Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(2s): 645-650; DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.645-650