Effectiveness of Bromelain in the control of postoperative pain after periodontal surgery: A crossover randomized clinical trial

Background. This study aimed to compare the analgesic effects of Ibuprofen and bromelain after periodontal surgery. Methods. A double-blinded crossover clinical trial was conducted on 22 patients needing two crown lengthening surgeries without bone surgery or with limited bone surgery on two quadrants of the maxilla, with control and test sides. Each quadrant was randomly assigned to bromelain (500 GUD) or ibuprofen (400 mg). Immediately after the surgery and 6 hours after it, the first dose of the drugs was packaged in the same capsules in A and B. Postoperative pain was evaluated during the first 8 hours and on the following day using a visual analog scale (VAS). Results. Using the VAS, the Ibuprofen group showed significantly lower mean pain scores than the bromelain group at 4 hours (P=0.047). In contrast, there were no significant differences between the two groups at 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 24, and 48 hours (P 0.05). Conclusion. The effectiveness of bromelain for pain control following periodontal surgery was comparable to that of Ibuprofen. Therefore, bromelain can be an efficient replacement for ibuprofen in managing pain after periodontal surgery, especially in patients with gastric ulceration and increased bleeding tendency.