Coexistence of hypertension and other variables in oral and maxillofacial clinic

Abstract

Background: Hypertension is quite important in oral and maxillofacial settings as it may present as an emergency during treatment or may necessitate a modification in the patient's management
Objective: To determine the importance of routine blood pressure measurement and determine the relationship of hypertension with specific maxillofacial disease conditions.
Subjects and methods: This was a prospective survey of patients who attended oral and maxillofacial clinic in University of Uyo Teaching hospital Uyo. A total of 116 patients who were found to have elevated blood pressure were assessed. An equal number of patients without elevated blood pressure was also assessed for comparison.
Results: In those with hypertension, the age ranged between 18 and 77 years with a mean age of 40 ± 11.0 years. Females represented 38.79% (n = 45) and males 61.21% (n = 71) of the total study group. Prehypertension was present in 23.28% (n=27), while Stage 1 hypertension was present in 45.14% (n=57), and Stage 2 in 27.59% (n=32) of the patients. Odontalgia was recorded as the condition with the highest frequency of hypertension with 29.31% (34) closely followed by trigeminal neuralgia with 24.14% (28).
Conclusion: The high prevalence of hypertension observed in this study without prior knowledge of the patients is worrisome considering the potential consequence during procedures. Also, some of the disease conditions particularly odontalgia and trigeminal neuralgic pains may have direct association with hypertension, although the one that preceded the other could not be determined from this study.