Symptomatic irreversible pulpitis is a painful clinical condition with a broad inflammatory component. Dental anesthesia in these patients is affected by the inflammatory process, reporting a high incidence of anesthesia failure. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analytical evaluation was to determine the effect of pre-treatment with tramadol in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis, as well as for pain control and adverse effects. This study was registered in PROSPERO (ID: CRD42021279262). PubMed was consulted to identify clinical investigations comparing tramadol and placebo/local anesthetics in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis. Data about the anesthesia, pain control, and adverse effects were extracted. Both the anesthetic success index and the adverse effects of local tramadol and placebo were compared with the Mantel-Haenszel test and odds ratio. Data analysis showed that the local administration of tramadol increased the anesthetic success rate when compared to placebo in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis ( = 228; I = 0; OR = 2.2; 95% CIs: 1.30 to 3.79; < 0.004). However, local administration of tramadol increased the risk of adverse effects when compared to placebo/local anesthetics ( = 288; I = 0; OR = 7.72; 95% CIs: 1.37 to 43.46; < 0.02). In conclusion, this study shows that the local administration of tramadol increases the anesthetic success index when compared to placebo in patients with symptomatic irreversible pulpitis.
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