ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

European Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery 2021 April;5(1):5-11

DOI: 10.23736/S2532-3466.20.00222-2

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Risk factors associated with postoperative edema following mandibular third molar surgery

Hani T. ALI ¹ ✉, Mohamed I. MOSLEH ²

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Aden University, Aden, Yemen; ² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt

BACKGROUND: The lifestyle experienced by patients following lower wisdom tooth surgery is becoming a major health concern; surgical removal of lower third molar teeth under local anesthesia is commonly carried out in dental practice. This procedure is usually associated with postoperative edema as a consequence of many risk factors involving this procedure. The aim of this study was to identify the most important risk factors associated with the postoperative edema following lower third molar surgery.
METHODS: The study was conducted on a consecutive series of 100 patients who underwent a surgical extraction of mandibular third molar under local anesthesia selected according to predefined criteria. The mean age was 28.6 years; the study included 54 males (54%) and 46 females (46%). Preoperative variables were categorized as demographic, anatomic and operative variables in order to identify their effect on postoperative edema. The surgical extraction was carried using two different types of flaps: one- and three-sided flap. The swelling was assessed by a subjective evaluation scale using 4 parameters and measured at the second, fifth, and seventh day.
RESULTS: The results of this study revealed an increase of postoperative edema which was significant with patient’s age, unfavorable tooth morphology, three-sided flap design and increasing the operative time.
CONCLUSIONS: The patient’s age, anatomical and operative variables affect facial swelling positively and play an important role in postoperative edema following lower third molar surgery.

KEY WORDS: Risk factors; Orthognathic surgical procedures; Macular edema