Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2022
Publisher
American Dental Education Association
Source Publication
Journal of Dental Education
Source ISSN
0022-0337
Original Item ID
DOI: 10.1002/jdd.12888
Abstract
Objective
The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence, nature, and management of post-surgical emergency after-hours calls in a dental school setting with predoctoral students, graduate students/residents, and faculty providers.
Methods
A patient chart review (March 2018–February 2020) for post-surgical calls through the emergency after-hours pager system was conducted at the Marquette University School of Dentistry. The total number of surgical procedures, procedure type, the timing of call, operator experience, concern, and recommendation given during the call were documented.
Results
During the review period, 83 calls (from 75 patients) were recorded after 8,487 surgical procedures (1% of procedures). Patients called 5.4 ± 0.8 days postoperatively. Procedure type affected call prevalence (p = 0.04), with most calls made after extractions (69.9% of all calls; 1% of extractions; 58/5,725), implant placement (6%; 0.9% of implant placements; 5/530) and periodontal plastic surgery (6%; 3.1% of all plastic surgeries; 5/161). The most common concern was pain (72.3%), then swelling (36.1%), bleeding (12%), and infection (9.6%). Operator experience did not affect call prevalence. Recommendations given were next business day follow-up (79.5%), reinforcement of already given postoperative instructions (51.8%), prescription (15.7%), and hospital emergency department (ED) visit (7.2%).
Conclusions
Post-surgical emergency after-hours calls in a dental school setting occur within the first postoperative week and are rare, unrelated to operator experience, typically prompted by pain, and rarely resulting in referral to hospital ED. The use of a pager system is adequate for the management of after-hours emergencies and may reduce self-referrals to the hospital ED.
Recommended Citation
Kofina, Vrisiis; Lindholm, Drake; Harunani, Abdulkareem; Dentino, Andrew R.; Singh, Maharaj; and Tatakis, Dimitris N., "Post-Surgical Emergency After-Hours Calls: Prevalence, Concerns, and Management" (2022). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 956.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/956
Comments
Accepted version. Journal of Dental Education, Vol. 86, No. 7 (July 2022): 814-822. DOI. © 2022 American Dental Education Association. Used with permission.