Effect of Calcitonin on Healing Duration, Function and Pain Relief in Patients with Maxillofacial Fractures

Abstract

Introduction: Calcitonin is a polypeptide hormone regulating the metabolism calcium in the body. Many studies showed that calcitonin had analgesic effect on several painful circumstances. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of intranasal calcitonin during the immediate postoperative period on postoperative pain in patients undergoing maxillofacial fracture surgery. Materials and Methods: In this double blind randomized clinical trial which was conducted from March 2018 to July 2019 in Imam Reza Hospital of Tabriz, 46 patients with maxillofacial fracture were divided randomly into two groups. The intervention group was given 200 UI of intranasal calcitonin and the control group received nasal spray of NaCl. The severity of pain was then evaluated daily for up to seven days after the operation, with the severity of: no pain (0) to the most severe pain (10) using visual analog scale (VAS) for pain. The daily dose of analgesic was also measured. The patients were allowed to request 250 mg of injectable acetaminophen each day up to a maximum daily dose of 4 g (maximum permissible dose) in the event of pain. Results: In this study, 46 patients (35 (76.1%) men 11 and (23.9%) women) were entered this clinical trial. The mean ± standard deviation of age in the intervention and control group was 41.78 ± 18.61 and 40.22 ± 19.55 years, respectively. The results show that the pain intensity decreased significantly in both groups during study but the difference between two groups was not significant. Also except the first day of the study, the total acetaminophen consumption was significantly lower in the intervention group in the upcoming days (p<0.05). Conclusion: calcitonin may be a useful medication to help to control the post-operative pain by reducing the required dose of routine painkillers. However few benefits of using calcitonin in healthy patients may question the cost-effectiveness of prescribing calcitonin routinely.