Do anti-inflammatory drugs worsen odontogenic cervico-facial cellulitis?

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this prospective study was to determine the influence of anti-inflammatory drugs on the severity of odontogenic cellulitis in patients admitted to our hospital emergency unit.

METHODS

The study was made from April 30 to October 31 2006. The clinical and pharmacological data was prospectively collected at admission, during hospitalization, and during systematic follow-up. We first studied the whole population and then compared the 2 groups: patients having received anti-inflammatory drugs before admission or not.

RESULTS

Two hundred and sixty-seven patients were included. The only severity criterion significantly different between the 2 groups was spreading of cervical lymphangitis (P=0.028). None of the 4 studied parameters was identified as a risk factor for spreading of cervical lymphangitis in multivariate analysis: anti-inflammatory use (OR=5.99, 95%CI [0.71-50.88]), alcohol abuse (OR=4.00, 95%CI [0.66-24.12]), dental hygiene (OR=1.53, 95%CI [0.36-6.56]), and tobacco use (OR=0.27, 95%CI [0.57-1.28]).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of anti-inflammatory drugs during the initial phase of an odontogenic infection was not related to the severity of infection.