The Acute Maxillofacial Infection- a retrospective medical journals analysis of patients in inpatient care

Sammanfattning: Introduction: An absolute majority of dental infections are treated without major complications. In exceptional situations dental infections can spread to surrounding structures such as the airways or even the brain leading to a life-threatening condition that requires hospitalization. According to literature, some qualified risk factors appear to be common in hospitalized patients. Aim: To outline factors typically seen in patients with acute maxillofacial infections with dental origin at Norrland University Hospital (NUS) and find possible association between these factors and the length of hospital stay.  Methods: A literature review using keywords associated with dental infections and acute throat and head infections was performed. Retrospective structured medical journal reviews of 58 patients suffering from acute maxillofacial infections which required hospitalization at NUS were analyzed. The results were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software and Microsoft Office Excel. Results: The results indicated that overweight/obese people (Body Mass Index ⊵25) require longer care at the hospital due to their infection. Every other of the hospitalized patients had received dental treatment within 14 days prior to hospitalization.  Conclusions: In situations with acute maxillofacial infections of dental origin requiring hospitalization, BMI ⊵25 is eventually a risk factor. A group of patients received dental treatment for their infection, but the infection still exacerbated. How come? This requires deeper analysis with further studies.