World J Oral Maxillofac Surg | Volume 2, Issue 1 | Research Article | Open Access
Chukwuneke FN1*, Okechi UC1, Nwosu JN2, Onyeka TC3, Okoroafor IJ4 and Akpeh JO4
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Nigeria
2Department of Otolaryngology, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Nigeria
3Department of Anesthesia, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Nigeria
4Department of Otorhinolaryngology Surgery, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Nigeria
*Correspondance to: Felix N Chukwuneke
Fulltext PDFIntroduction: The purpose of this article was to evaluate the 80 patients with Cervico-Facial Necrotizing Fasciitis (CNF) amongst 1109 oral and maxillofacial patients seen at the Oral & Maxillofacial surgery department of a Nigerian Teaching hospital. Patients and
Methods: We carried out a 10-year retrospective evaluation of 80 patients with Cervico-facial necrotizing fasciitis seen at the Oral and Maxillofacial Department of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria from 2004 to 2013. We reviewed all patients who had a diagnosis of cervico-facial necrotizing fasciitis during this period from notes kept in the Records Department. We identified the trends in the number of cases categorized by oral hygiene status, yearly occurrence, age, and sex and treatment outcome.
Result: Eighty cases were recorded, accounting for 7.2% of all oral and maxillofacial cases reviewed. Of the 80 cases, 31 (38.75%) were males, while 49 (61.25%) were females giving a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.6. The year 2013 presented more number of cases (26; 32.5%) and 2006 was the least (1; 1.25%). Patients between the ages of 20 years to 29 years were more affected (18; 22.5%). They were all emergencies and most 71(88.7%) came from rural areas. Poor oral hygiene was evident in all the cases. The treatment of choice was surgical debridement and hospitalization. Five patients (6.3%) were lost.
Conclusion: This study has shown an increasing trend in occurrence of Cervico-facial necrotizing fasciitis with morbidity and mortality surge in Enugu, Nigeria. While emphasis should be on individual oral health care and health-seeking behavior, there is a need also for health care policy makers to re-focus on this morbidly increasing orofacial infection.
Necrotizing fasciitis; Clinical evaluation; Enugu nigeria
Chukwuneke FN, Okechi UC, Nwosu JN, Onyeka TC, Okoroafor IJ, Akpeh JO. Cervico-Facial Necrotizing Fasciitis: A Ten-Year Clinical Evaluation of 80 Cases in Enugu, Eastern Nigeria. World J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2019;2(1):1018.