Preoperative oral practices and incidence of postoperative complications in hospital medical-surgical procedures: A meta-analysis

Background: Oral decay prior to a hospital medical-surgical procedure is a risk factor for the development of postoperative complications. However, perioperative oral practices as a protective factor have not been studied. This review aims to evaluate the effectiveness of perioperative oral practices in the reduction of risk of developing postoperative complications in in-hospital medical surgical procedures.Material and Methods: This review and meta-analysis was conducted according to Cochrane guidelines. Medline, Scopus, Scielo, and Cochrane were consulted. Articles of the previous 10 years concerning adult patients under-going perioperative oral practices prior to hospital medical-surgical procedures, were included. Data of the type of perioperative oral practice, type of postoperative complication and measures of effect on the development of complications were extracted.Results: Of a pool of 1470 articles, 13 were included for systematic review and 10 for meta-analysis. The most common perioperative oral procedures were focalized approach (FA), referred to only the elimination of infec-tious foci in the oral cavity and comprehensive approach (CA), referred to a integral approach of the patient's oral health, both of which were mainly performed in oncologic surgeries, both were effective in the reduction of postoperative complications (RR=0.48, [95% CI 0.36 -0.63]). The most reported postoperative complication was postoperative pneumonia.Conclusions: Perioperative oral management proved to be a protective factor against the development of postop-erative complications.