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Revista Española de Cirugía Oral y Maxilofacial
On-line version ISSN 2173-9161Print version ISSN 1130-0558
Abstract
RANZ COLIO, Álvaro et al. Severe cervicofacial infections. Our experience in Ramón y Cajal University Hospital, Madrid. Rev Esp Cirug Oral y Maxilofac [online]. 2019, vol.41, n.4, pp.172-177. Epub Apr 13, 2020. ISSN 2173-9161. https://dx.doi.org/10.20986/recom.2019.1068/2019.
Introduction:
Cervical infections are a very common reason for consultation in the emergency services of our country. However, in certain cases, these infections are a cause of a great morbidity and important complications, including the compromise of the upper airway. For all these reasons, early diagnosis and treatment are of a great importance.
The main objective is to perform a retrospective study of patients diagnosed with severe cervicofacial infection in our department, analyzing multiple demographic variables, treatment administered, time of hospitalization and complications observed.
Material and methods:
Retrospective descriptive observational study based on a sample of 47 patients diagnosed with severe cervicofacial infection in our center between April 2016 and March 2018. Multiple variables were collected, among which are: sex, etiology, associated symptoms, microbiological isolation, treatment established, comorbidities, time of hospital admission and complications.
Results:
51 % of the sample were patients under 50 years of age without comorbidities. The most frequent comorbidities were toxic habits (tobacco and alcohol), hypertension and diabetes. Regarding the etiology, 91 % were odontogenic, being the third inferior molars the most frequently affected (79.06 %). The characteristic clinical presentation was the triad of facial swelling, pain and trismus (up to 60 %). The most frequently affected cervicofacial space was the submandibular space (56 %).
The microbiological isolation showed that the majority were mixed polymicrobial infections (18 of 38 isolates) with predominance of the Streptococcus and Prevotella groups.
The complications that we found were: two upper airway obstructions, a cervical bleeding, three reinterventions for a bad clinical evolution and a patient with mediastinitis.
Conclusions:
We can conclude that odontogenic etiology is the most frequent in severe cervicofacial infections, with the submandibular space being the most affected. Most of severe cervicofacial infections in Ramón y Cajal Hospital were polymicrobial and mixed infections. The combined treatment with surgery and intravenous antibiotic therapy was the therapeutic option chosen for all patients. Amoxicillin-Clavulanic was the most used broad-spectrum antibiotic. Complications are uncommon with an adequate treatment.
Keywords : Odontogenic infections; antibiotic sensitivity; cervical compartiments; severe cervical infection.