Analysis of pathogenic bacteria of oral and maxillofacial space infection and the effect of vacuum sealing drainage treatment.

To investigate the pathogenic spectrum of oral and maxillofacial space infection and evaluate the clinical efficacy of vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) in its treatment. A retrospective analysis was performed on 118 patients with oral and maxillofacial space infection admitted to the Department of Stomatology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, from January 2021 to December 2023. All patients underwent pathogenic bacteria detection, and were divided into a conventional incision drainage group (n=72) and a VSD group (n=46) by treatment method. The clinical efficacy, recovery-related indicators, pain scores and serum inflammatory factor levels were compared between the two groups. The most frequent infection sites were the masseteric, buccal and infraorbital spaces in turn. Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Klebsiella pneumoniae were the dominant pathogens. Compared with the conventional group, the VSD group showed a higher clinical effective rate, significantly shorter wound healing time, antibiotic course and hospital stay (all P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the VSD group had lower pain rating index (PRI), visual analogue scale (VAS), present pain intensity (PPI) scores, and lower serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) (all P < 0.05). Oral and maxillofacial space infection is mainly caused by Gram-positive cocci. VSD can enhance clinical efficacy, alleviate pain, reduce inflammatory response, and shorten the duration of antibiotic use and hospitalization, which is worthy of clinical promotion.