Anxiolytic Effect of a Combination of Valeriana Officinalis L. And Humulus Lupulus L. In Patients Undergoing Impacted Third Molar Extraction

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety is one of the components of patient stress in the dental office and is recognized as one of the main factors that negatively affect treatment. The use of phytotherapics represents an option for the control of conventional anxiety. Thus, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of the association between Valeriana officinalis L. and Humulus lupulus L., on the control of anxiety in patients submitted to bilateral mandibular third molar exodonts included. Materials and Methods: Randomized, controlled, double-blind, splith-mouth, cross-over clinical trial involving a sample of 43 volunteers, after diagnosis and indication for bilateral exodontics of the included mandibular third molars, asymptomatic and in similar surgical positions and difficulties. A single oral dose of Valerian and Hops (500 mg and 120 mg, respectively) or placebo (starch) was administered randomly and crossover 1 hour before each surgical procedure. Anxiety level was assessed by physiological parameters such as heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and oxygen saturation content (SpO2), in three distinct phases: Phase I (baseline); Phase II (intervention day) and Phase III (return visit). Results: The herbal medicine promoted a statistically significant reduction of the PAS and PAD levels (two-way Anova with Holm-Sidak correction, p<0.05) at all times of surgery when compared to placebo. The phytotherapic generated a lower degree of anxiety (Fisher's Exact test) in the evaluations of the researcher (p<0.0001), operator (p<0.0001) and patient (p<0.0001). There were no reports of retrograde amnesia and 19 patients (51.4%) reported post-surgical muscle relaxation after use of the herbal medicine. Conclusion: The association of Valerian with Hops promotes a reduction of pressure levels, anxiety levels and has no side effects, in adult patients submitted to exodonties of the mandibular third molars included.