[sparky2]

an observation based on v2.2.9 code:

Although 3 arguments are passed to the function
(the post id, the post title, and post.pagetext)
only ONE ~~ postid ~~ is needed.

Further:
the preg_replace stuff, the "SELECT wordid, title blahblah" query
along with the AND-ed DELETE query, are unnecessary!

This function could (SHOULD) be simplified to the point of
just accepting the postid as an argument, and querying
DELETE from searchindex where postid='$postid'

Considering that each of the calling scripts have the postid available
in the first place, the function (and calls to it) could be removed entirely
by placing the SQL (delete) query right in the scripts (postings.php,
and editpost.php)