Cross Infection Control Methods Adopted by Medical and Dental Practitioners in Benin City, Nigeria

Background: Cross infection control is an essential aspect of medical and dental practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the various methods of cross infection control adopted by medical and dental practitioners in Benin City. Method: A structured self-administered questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected group of medical and dental practitioners in order to assess their cross infection control methods, attitude to sterilization of equipment and immunization against hepatitis B virus. Result: Of the 113 practitioners surveyed, 98.1% of them sterilised their equipments. The various methods used were autoclaving 46%, a combination of autoclaving and cold sterilisation 25.7% and other methods 25%. Practitioners who wash their hands before and after examining patients constituted 72.6% and 94.7% respectively. Those who screened blood before transfusing were 79.5% while 4.5% and 19.5% reused needles and syringes respectively. Although 77.9% of respondents suffered needle stick injury, only 10.6% were immunised against hepatitis B virus. Respondents who did not regularly wear face masks and eye goggles during operative procedure constituted 77.9% and 64.6% respectively. Similarly 40.7% of practitioners did not wear gloves when examining patients. Conclusion: Our finding shows that although most the practitioners studied recognised the importance of cross infection control in practice, strict compliance still posed a problem

MIDLINE LETHAL GRANULOMA COMPLICATING PREGNANCY: CASE REPORT

ABSTRACTA case of midline lethal granuloma in a 28-year- old female Nigerian patient is reported. Oral,ocular and nasal lesions were present and these preceded a spontaneous abortion of a threemonth old pregnancy. The clinical course of the disease and its similarity to othergranulomatous diseases, which are generally classified as midline granuloma syndrome, arehighlighted. The prognosis is poor but early diagnosis and treatment appears to improve apatient’s conditio

Perception of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in a University Community

Background: Oral and maxillofacial surgery is a specialty that is expanding its frontiers of surgical anatomic definition. There has been no study in Nigeria to ascertain the level of knowledge of the specialty by the public. Materials and Methods: The population of the University of Benin Community is about 47,000 inhabitants. Students form the bulk of the population. A questionnaire was designed to assess the knowledge of the community of the specialties of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT), and plastic Surgery. They were asked some questions on their choice of surgeon to treat them if they or a member of their families had an identified surgical problem. They were asked whether the title of OMFS was suitable and its relevance in a developing country. Results: Two hundred copies of the questionnaire were collected which represented 80% of the sample. There were 48% males and 52% females with an age range of 16 to 45 years. Less than half (43.5%) of the respondents have heard of OMFS, 55% and 87.5% have heard of the ENT and Plastic Surgeon respectively. Eighty nine percent of respondents think the specialty is relevant in a developing country and 40.5% thought the name should not be changed. Conclusion: The results show a general lack of awareness of OMFS. (Nig J Surg Res 2001; 3: 139 – 146) KEY WORDS: Perception, Oral, Maxillofacial Surger

Mandibular fracture and complications associated with different treatment methods: Review of Literature.

Mandibular fracture sometimes is associated with complications which influence its prognosis. Aspects of the complications of mandibular fracture investigated are those emanating from the methods of treatment employed in its management. Such methods of treatment include conservative, closed reduction with intermaxillary fixation and open reduction with inter-maxillary fixation or rigid internal fixation. It is expected that with improvement in the knowledge of this condition and its management protocols complications will be reduced to the barest minimum. But, this is not so as there are many confounding variables that influence treatment outcome. This paper examined those complications associated with the various treatment methods and recommends that the older methods of treatment like closed reduction technique and transosseous wire osteosynthesis are still relevant in the current day practice.Keywords: Mandible, fracture, treatment methods, complications.  &#160

Postoperative morbidity after mandibular third molar surgery using two flap designs: a comparative analysis

Pain, trismus and swelling are known sequelae of surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. Influencing the overall surgical procedure, to ameliorate or eradicate these complications is the focus of researchers. This study aims at comparing the effect of an envelope and triangular flap incisions on postoperative morbidity following surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. It was a comparative study of 104 participants (divided into two groups A and B) who had surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. Group Ahad envelope flap design and Group B had triangular flap design. Pain, trismus and swelling were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively (1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th day). A bivariate analysis comparing numerical outcomes across the two groups was done using the independent sample t-test and the relationship between nominal variables across the two groups was done using the Chi-square test. The level of significance was set at P< 0.05. The male to female ratio was 1:1.8, the mean age of subjects was 27.7 ± 6.4 years. Participants in Group A had a greater degree of pain and trismus than those in Group B though not statistically significant. There was a significant difference in swelling on the 5th (p <0.001) and 7th (p <0.001) day postoperatively with envelope flap incision resulting in more swelling than the triangular flap incision. We concluded that though pain, trismus and swelling were still observed in patients, triangular flap resulted in less degree and duration of postoperative complications than the envelope flap.Keywords: Third molar surgery, complications of third molar surgery, flap desig

HEPATITIS B SURFACE ANTIGEN AND ANTIBODY TO HEPATITIS C VIRUS AMONG ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY PATIENTS

Objective: To determine the sero-prevalence and epidemiology of antibody to hepatitis Cvirus (anti-HCV) and hepatitis B surface antigen in accident and emergency patients.Design: A descriptive study was performed on 150 accident and emergency patients. Serawas screened for anti-HCV and HbsAg, using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Personalinformation and risk factors involved were obtained using a questionnaire.Setting: Haematology laboratory of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.Subjects: One hundred and fifty adults consisting of 122 males and 28 females who wereabove the age of 21 years. Patients were randomly selected from all adults including dentalpatients attending the emergency department for both surgical, dental and medicalemergencies. The age range was between 21 - 58 years. In order to ascertain the epidemiologyof both viruses a questionnaire was used detailing the possible risk factors for transmission.These included history of previous blood transfusion; history of life time occurrence ofmultiple sexually transmitted diseases; history of heterosexual exposure to partners at risk(for example prostitutes); history involving the use of unsterilised blades; presence ofscarification marks and tattooing; low socio-economic status (low annual income orunemployed): history of intravenous drug use and heterosexual activity. Anti-HCV andHBsAg were both assayed using different assay kits, based on the enzyme linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) tests from different manufacturers.Results: The sero-prevalence of anti-HCV was 14% and 29.3% for HBsAg. Anti-HCVpositivity was significantly associated with a past history of blood transfusion and heterosexualexposure to partners at risk. The study also revealed a significant association between HBsAgpositivity and all the risk factors.Conclusion: The high prevalence rate for anti-HCV and HbsAg in accident and emergencypatients increases the likelihood of further spread from patients to health care providersespecially if adequate precautions are not observed

Antenatal determinants of oro-facial clefts in Southern Nigeria

Objectives: Cleft lip with or without cleft palate, is the most common serious congenital anomaly that affects the orofacial regions. The management and care of the cleft patient constitutes a substantial proportion of the workload of the Nigerian maxillofacial surgeon and allied specialties. Yet, there are no specific programmes targeted at this group. We believe that the findings of this study is capable of identifying useful interventions for designing programs that will lead to a reduction in the burden of orofacial cleft in Nigeria. Methods: It was a transverse cross-sectional study that was undertaken at the Maxillofacial Units of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital and the Central Hospital, Benin City respectively. The prevalence and antenatal determinants of cleft lip and palate were determined. Results: Cleft lip and palate were often encountered in clinical practice in Benin City with a prevalence of 1.35%. The results showed that orofacial clefts were commoner in females and that the combined unilateral cleft lip and palate was the commonest entity encountered amongst the cases. The following risk factors were associated with the risk of development of cleft lip and palate: Paternal age >40years, maternal age >35years, genetic/family history, low socio-economic status, alcohol consumption and indulgence in the intake of herbal medications in pregnancy. Conclusion: Public health education programmes and advocacy activities geared towards raising awareness of the identified risk factors for the development of cleft lip and or cleft palate would go a long way to obviate the occurrence and reduce the burden