Prague Med. Rep. 2025, 126, 139-143
Orofacial Infection Number Decrease during COVID-19 Pandemic
, Michal Vavro1, Martin Selvek2, Natália Gurčíková1, David Med1, Ladislav Czakó1
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Comenius University, University Hospital Bratislava, Slovakia
2Dôvera Insurance Company, Bratislava, Slovakia
Received January 7, 2025
Accepted August 27, 2025
This study analyses trends in orofacial infection hospital admissions at a single department, focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Admission counts fluctuated over the study period, but 2020 (n=65) and 2021 (n=56) showed a statistically significant decrease, falling slightly outside the 95% confidence interval of a linear trend established for 2014–2019. In 2022, the number of admitted patients (n=63) remained below average but within the confidence interval, while 2023 saw an increase to 97 patients. A notable shift in treatment methods was observed during the pandemic years. The proportion of patients treated with extraoral revision increased, with the most pronounced disparity in 2020 (n=40:10, 80%:20% extraoral revision-to-local treatment ratio). Statistical analysis (chi-square test, p<0.001) confirmed significant differences across the years. Comparing COVID-19-affected years (2020–2022) with non-COVID years (2014–2019 and 2023), 73% of patients were treated with extraoral revision during the pandemic, compared to 49% in non-COVID years (p<0.001). Additionally, only 44 patients were treated with antibiotics alone, whereas 75 would have been expected in the absence of COVID-19-related disruptions. These findings suggest that the pandemic influenced both the number of orofacial infection admissions and the treatment approach.
Keywords
Orofacial infection, Odontogenic abscess, COVID-19, Epidemiology.
References
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
