The study looked at 440 cases of lower jam fractures treated by the U.C. division of oral and maxillofacial surgery and found that there was little to no difference in complication rate between groups of patients treated 0-72 hours, 3-7 days and those that received treatment more than seven days after the fracture occurred.
Sending patients home with proper pain medication can eliminate the need for a hospital stay and give patients the ability to schedule treatment at a more convenient setting. It can also reduce costs for healthcare providers, said Deepak Krishnan, DDS, assistant professor of surgery and residency program director, in the news release.
“There’s no nursing cost for an overnight hospital stay, there’s no cost for treatment of hospital stay-associated complications. … The cost was dramatically improved with no difference in outcome,” said Mr. Krishnan in the release. “We’re trying to be careful with how we spend our medical dollars and we’re concerned about care for people.”
Michael Grau, DMD, is presenting the abstract on the research, titled “Safety and cost-efficiency in treating mandibular fractures non-emergently,” at the 2010 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons meeting.
Read the U.C. news release about outpatient jaw fracture treatment.
