Evaluation of the immediate post-operative procedure after dental interventions. 24 hours follow up study. Epico study.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to make a descriptive approximation of the therapeutic management of the different dental interventions in clinical practice today, and to analyze the degree of consensus among the specialists participating in the study.

STUDY DESIGN: A total of 447 odontologists, stomatologists or maxillofacial surgeons from 43 Spanish provinces participated in the study. The study sample consisted of patients aged 18 years old or over attending the clinic for a dental intervention. The type of intervention carried out and treatments administered before and after the intervention were recorded. At 24 hours after the intervention, intensity of pain experienced by the patient, rescue therapy administered for pain relief, sleep affectation, the appearance of adverse events or complications of the intervention, and treatment compliance were also recorded.

RESULTS: Data corresponding to 4,194 patients were analyzed, of whom 53.2% were women (2,232). The mean age was 42.6 years (95%CI 42.2- 43). The most frequent interventions corresponded to: oral surgery (66.4%), endodontics (17.3%) and periodontal treatment (4.6%). A total of 43.2% of the patients were taking some medication before the intervention: anticoagulants (2.5%), antibiotics (33%), pain relief and/or anti-inflammatory agents (23%) and other drugs (7.6%); 16.6% were receiving combined treatment with antibiotics and analgesics and/or anti-inflammatory agents before the intervention. Treatments prescribed to the patient for the 24 hours following the intervention corresponded to only one analgesic and/or anti-inflammatory in 18%, and a combination of analgesics and/or anti-inflammatories in 77.1%. Antibiotics were prescribed in 39.7%.

CONCLUSIONS: Different patterns of therapeutic management by the specialists were noted depending on the type of intervention carried out. The use of analgesics and/or anti-inflammatories depended on the severity of pain expected with each intervention and the administration of antibiotics was related to the prevention of local infections.