Objectives: To evaluate treatment outcomes in patients with severe maxillofacial infections requiring hospital care during a 17-year period.
Methods: A retrospective cohort study reviewed 5,465 medical records, and the following data were collected: the reason for infection, locations of inflamed regions, treatment provided, bacteriological findings, and treatment outcomes. Other information included sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender), presence of systemic diseases, and smoking history.
Results: The annual incidence rate of patients with acute maxillofacial infections was 206 ± 19 cases with a male to female ratio 1.4:1.0, a mean hospital stay of 7.9 ± 4.9 days. Older age (>65 years), smoking and systemic diseases (diabetes), the causative tooth (molar), and need for extraoral incision predicted longer hospitalization. Intravenous penicillin was the most common drug prescribed in 50.5% of cases. A total of 132 different microorganisms were identified. The highest microorganism resistance occurred for metronidazole and the highest sensitivity was to clindamycin.
Conclusions: Increased age, smoking, diabetes, causative tooth, and the occurrence of several infected spaces were associated with a longer hospital stay. Streptococcus α haemolyticus was the most common microorganism found in more than 70.0% of cases that were sensitive to intravenous penicillin.
Keywords: hospital stay; microorganism resistance; odontogenic maxillofacial infections.
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