Manual lymphatic drainage techniques reduces postoperative facial swelling after third molar surgery

Department of Oral surgery, Faculty of dental medicine, Medical University, Plovdiv, BulgariaSummary Manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) is an unique manual intervention pioneered by Emil and Estrid Vodder. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the application of MLD, in case of surgically removal of impacted third molars, can efficiently diminish postoperative swelling. Material and methods: Sixty patients with mandibular third molars, that required surgical removal, were divided into two equal groups: MLD group (30 patients) and control group (30 patients). Each patient underwent lower third molar extraction. MLD was performed on the neck region, using Vodder’s method, once a day - immediately after extraction, until the suture removal. Swelling was evaluated prior to operation, on the first, third and seventh postoperative day with the objective method - a linear measurement. The six landmarks of measurement were as follows: tragus-lip junction, traguspogonion, mandibular angle-external corner of eye, mandibular angle-ala nasi, mandibular angle-lip junction, mandibular angle-median point of chin. Results: All lines demonstrated a significant reduction of swelling in the MLD group compared to the control group. Conclusion: MLD is an efficient method for managing postoperative swelling after the removal of impacted third mandibular molars