Complications of ambulatory oral surgery in patients over 65 years of age.

Serious systemic disorders such as hypertension, cerebrovascular or heart disease, diabetes and psychiatric problems are common in elderly patients, and lead to the prescription of different drugs. This may in turn influence oral health, and the dentist should be familiarized with these situations when providing dental treatment in elderly patients. A retrospective study was made of 196 patients over age 65 years to evaluate the type of ambulatory surgery performed under locoregional anesthesia, taking into account the presence of background systemic pathology, multiple drug therapy, oral and dental health, the cause of consultation and the type of anesthesia used, relating these parameters to the development of intra- or postoperative systemic and/or local complications. Some systemic disease was documented in 88% of the patents-- hypertension being the most frequent disorder (in 45% of subjects with systemic disease). On the other hand, 78% of the patients used some medication, and 77% presented for hard-tissue treatment (tooth extractions, bone remodeling, etc.); 61% of all treatments comprised the removal of root fragments (54% of all hard-tissue interventions), symptomatic third molars (15%) or other dental inclusions. Only mild or moderate complications were recorded (13%) -- either local (n = 25) or systemic (n = 1). No significant relation was observed between the development of intra- or postoperative complications and the type of treatment provided or the medication used by these patients. Only diabetes was associated with a significant increase in intra- and postoperative local complications (p<0.003).