Compliance of postoperative instructions following the surgical extraction of impacted lower third molars: a randomized clinical trial.

J Alvira-Gonzalez,C Gay-Escoda

doi:10.4317/medoral.20121

Abstract

Objectives: The understanding and adherence to postoperative care instructions are factors that influence the recuperation process after any surgical procedure. The aim of this study was to determine the percentage of patients who strictly follow the postoperative instructions after the extraction of an impacted lower third molar in relation to sociocultural level, preoperative anxiety scores and how postoperative information is provided to the patient. Study Design: Patients were randomly assigned to one of three different test groups according to how the postoperative instructions were presented: verbal, written and a group that received additional information. Before surgery, patients were required to complete the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale and personal information (age, gender and educational level) was also collected. P<0.05 was considered significant. Patients were surveyed a week after surgery regarding their adherence to postoperative instructions. Results: 84 patients (45 women and 39 men with an average of 28.23 ± 7.41 years) completed the study. There were no statistically significant differences regarding adherence of postoperative care instructions depending on the manner of instruction presentation, preoperative anxiety level and sociocultural level (p> 0.05). Quitting smoking or drinking of alcoholic/carbonated beverages were the main influential factors for the lack of adherence to postoperative care instructions during the week after surgery. Conclusions: Presentation of postoperative instructions, preoperative anxiety scores and sociocultural level do not appear to be key factors that promote the adherence to postoperative instructions. Key words:Compliance, postoperative instructions, treatment, third molar.

Highlights

Lower third molar extraction is the most common surgical procedure in Oral Surgery and it appears well documented in literature
The main objective of this study was to determine the percentage of patients who strictly follow the postoperative instructions after the extraction of the impacted lower third molar, taking into account how the information is presented to the patient, the sociocultural level and level of preoperative anxiety
The results, are based on 84 patients (45 women and 39 men with an average age of 28.23 ± 7.41 years) distributed in different test groups according to how postoperative instructions were provided, sociocultural level and the level of preoperative anxiety. - Type of information The degree of adherence to the postoperative guidelines provided by the professional after surgery is shown in table 4

Summary

Introduction

Lower third molar extraction is the most common surgical procedure in Oral Surgery and it appears well documented in literature. There are no references in the literature that consider how these two concepts may influence the adherence to postoperative instructions or its possible correlation to the level of preoperative anxiety that is common in any surgical procedure. All these factors could be obstacles to the proper adherence to postoperative instruction for the patient during the recovery period. The main objective of this study was to determine the percentage of patients who strictly follow the postoperative instructions after the extraction of the impacted lower third molar, taking into account how the information is presented to the patient, the sociocultural level and level of preoperative anxiety. The hypothesis is that patients with a lower level of preoperative anxiety, higher sociocultural level and who are given both full verbal and written information about the postoperative course will strictly follow postoperative instructions

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Discussion

Conclusion