I can think of no reason why general anesthesia would lead to increased
postop pain, but I can think of a good reason why a poorly designed
study would show this.
    Specifically, the extractions have to be randomly assigned.  If this is
a retrospective study, it is extremely unlikely that the selection is
random.  A patient having simple extractions of erupted molar teeth is
far less likely to either ask for or have suggested by the surgeon that
the extractions be done under general anesthesia than a patient having
removal of deeply bony impacted third molars.  Furthermore, I would bet
that patients requesting general anesthesia as a group are more anxious,
and it is quite likely that this may also select for more stoic patients
opting for local anesthesia.
    BTW, you get tough guy points for having all 4 out in one day.  This is
more often done with general anesthesia, if for no other reason than it
is prudent to minimize the number of GA inductions, but ordinarily for
patients having 4 wisdom tooth extractions done with local I'd advise
them the have the 2 left and 2 right done separately, so you are left
with a side to chew on more or less comfortably.  OTOH, there's
something to be said for getting it over with.

Steve

local & 2 on the left with general), I recommended doing local to my
patients.  Mainly because you don't feel the effect of the general when
you wake up.  And patients, including me, tends to heal or recover
quicker, from my experience.

This could be due to the extend of the impaction and not to method of
anesthesia.  Patients who opt for general tend to be very dental
phobic, and they tend to have neglected oral hygene.  So their
treatments tend to be more difficult.

This is really generalizing but the point is that there are other
factors to consider beside the method of anesthesia.

[AdvanceAgent #367924]
Game I am currently playing:
http://uc.gamestotal.com/?in=367924