Fig. 1. Pain intensity, evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS;  A ) or categorical scale (  B ), in patients treated preoperatively with single oral doses of placebo, 50 mg rofecoxib, or 550 mg naproxen. Patients underwent impacted lower third molar removal 1 h after drug administration, and they were then monitored from 60 to 240 min during the postoperative period. Each  point or  column indicates the mean value ± SD (  vertical bars ) obtained from 20 patients. *  P < 0.05, significant difference  versus values from patients treated with placebo.