Clinical Update quiz
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May 2026 Clinical Update
Post-Operative Infections Following Dentoalveolar Surgery Admitted to an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Tertiary Centre
A. A. R. Musa, E. D. Jensen, R. Richardson, A. Cheng, and P. J. Sambrook, “Post-Operative Infections Following Dentoalveolar Surgery Admitted to an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Tertiary Centre,” Australian Dental Journal (2025): 1–9
Compiled by Dr Nirav Bhatia
Introduction
Post-operative infections (POI) represent a critical complication in oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS), with implications for patient morbidity, hospital resource utilisation and long-term clinical outcomes. In South Australia, there is a single OMS Unit that operates within a tertiary hospital. Any severe odontogenic infection will generally be referred for management through this Unit, either as an inpatient or outpatient. This Unit has an Acute Head and Neck Infection protocol which aims to streamline patients to identify high risk patients with a risk of airway compromise.
The clinical management of POI varies based on the clinical context and associated patient factors, with variables such as fascial space involved, comorbidities of the patient, admission length, intensive care unit admission, type of anaesthetic provided and choice of antimicrobials.
Antibiotics play a key role in the management of severe odontogenic infections, with current Australian guidelines advising the use of systemic antibiotics as an adjunct to surgical intervention, and only in the presence of severe deep space involvement or failure to respond to primary surgical therapy. From a POI perspective, the disease journey can be split into treatment completed within Phase 1 (the initial dental surgery), and Phase 2 (the subsequent management of the severe odontogenic infection in the hospital). Antibiotic resistance can also complicate POI, as demonstrated by a previous study from South Australia that the antibiotic resistance rate within a group of patients with severe odontogenic infections was 17.8%.
This retrospective cross-sectional audit aimed to identify treatment variables from Phase 1 and Phase 2 in the POI disease journey, patient factors associated with admission and changes over a five-year period.
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