Current status of split-mouth controlled clinical trials comparing cyanoacrylate vs. conventional suture after lower third molar surgeries: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Objetive. During the last few years, cyanoacrylate has been used for wound closure in oral and maxillofacial surgery with growing frequency. When comparing cyanoacrylate with sutures, some authors report similar experiences, while others have found differences. Some agree on the similar outcomes obtained between cyanoacrylate and sutures, others have registered better effects with cyanoacrylate, and others with sutures. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review (SR) was to evaluate postoperative parameters – pain, swelling, trismus, healing and complications (bleeding and infection) – after lower third molar (LTM) removal using cyanoacrylate compared with sutures. Materials and methods. Electronic and manual literature searches were conducted independently by two reviewers up to March 2022. Results. Four studies met the pre-established inclusion criteria and were included for descriptive analysis. These were controlled clinical trials comparing the effects of cyanoacrylate with sutures in 116 patients and 232 split-mouth cases. Pain and haemostasis were significantly reduced on the cyanoacrylate group, swelling showed the same results on two of the studies analysed, trismus and healing had no significant differences between both groups. Conclusions. Both techniques were found to be effective in terms of wound closure, proposing cyanoacrylate as an effective resource that should be investigated in future research. Nevertheless, the literature on cyanoacrylate is scarce and lacks comparative studies of its outcomes and effects.