Background
The presence of pathogens in dental plaque is a risk factor associated with postoperative
pneumonia in esophageal cancer patients. The effectiveness of pre-operative dental
brushing to decrease the risk of postoperative pneumonia in esophageal cancer patients
was evaluated prospectively.
Methods
A total of 86 thoracic esophageal cancer patients who underwent an esophagectomy were
investigated. Patients were divided into 2 groups: the control group (41 patients)
and the pre-operative dental brushing group (45 patients). The patients in the brushing
group were assigned to brush their teeth 5 times a day. After the operation, the frequency
of postoperative pneumonia and need for tracheostomy for pulmonary treatment was calculated.
Results
Postoperative pneumonia was decreased markedly from 32% to 9% (P = .013), and the frequency of postoperative pneumonia requiring tracheostomy decreased
from 12% to 0% in the dental brushing group, respectively. Limiting the patients who
had positive pathogenic bacteria in their dental plaque on their admission, the frequency
of postoperative pneumonia was decreased from 71% (5 of 7 patients) in the control
group to 17% (2 of 12 patients) in the dental brushing group (P = .045).
Conclusion
Frequent pre-operative dental brushing is performed easily and seems to prevent postoperative
pneumonia in esophageal cancer patients.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 11, 2009
Accepted:
October 12,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
