The cause of cost in the management of odontogenic infections 2: multivariate outcome analyses.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to evaluate the demographic, social, treatment, and hospital course variables associated with length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) use, and additional operating room (OR) use in patients admitted for odontogenic infections.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective chart review was conducted in patients admitted for odontogenic infections at Harborview Medical Center from July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2011.

RESULTS

In total, 318 patient charts were reviewed and included. In the multivariate linear regression analysis on LOS, the variables drug abuse, location of treatment, number of spaces involved, side or location of infection, ICU use, length of ICU stay, additional OR use, peak temperature, admission white blood cell count, peak white blood cell count, and peak blood sugar accounted for 68.2% of the variation. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis on ICU use, the variables OR time, number of spaces involved, and peak blood sugar accounted for 32.5% of the variation. LOS was the only variable significantly associated with additional OR use in the multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSION

An understanding of the key variables involved in LOS in patients with odontogenic infections has been greatly improved by recent studies and reinforced by the present study. The authors present a starting point for a greater understanding of the variables involved in ICU use, but much more work is needed to address variables identifying patients requiring reoperation. Future studies should aim to create multivariate models explaining all variations in these outcome variables.