Clinical evaluation of postoperative fever in patients that had oral and maxillofacial surgery in university of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative fever (POF) is often encountered after major oral and maxillofacial surgical procedures. This could become an unwanted complication, requiring detailed clinical evaluation and investigations to determine the cause. AIM: The aim is to determine the major causes of POF in patients that had oral and maxillofacial surgery under general anesthesia at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The selected patients were admitted and prepared for surgery. Eight hourly axillary temperature readings were taken from the day of admission till discharge. Necessary samples were collected for laboratory analysis from patients that developed fever after their surgery. RESULTS: The patients consisted of 70 males (64.8%) and 38 females (35.2%) giving a ratio of 1.8:1. The mean age of the patients was 27.15 years (SD 13.1). Of the 108 patients studied, 23 (21.7%) developed fever after their surgery. In majority of the patients, the POF lasted within the first 4 days of surgery. There was a significant relationship between duration of surgery and POF. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that most cases of POF are of early onset and of short duration. The longer the surgery time, the more likely POF will occur.