Waterlow score for risk assessment in surgical patients: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

The Waterlow score (WS) is used routinely in clinical practice to assess risk of pressure sore development. Recent studies have also suggested its use in preoperative risk stratification. The primary aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the current evidence on the WS in predicting morbidity and mortality in surgical patients.

METHODS

A systematic review was carried out in accordance with PRISMA and SWiM guidelines. A search strategy was conducted on the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. Quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale.

FINDINGS

Overall, 72 papers were identified, of which 7 met inclusion criteria for full text review, and 4 were included for analysis. All studies were cohort in nature and published between 2013 and 2016, encompassing a total of 505 surgical patients. The studies included general, vascular, transplant and orthopaedic surgery. A high WS was demonstrated to have statistically significant association with increased morbidity and mortality as well as need for intensive care unit admission and length of stay. Furthermore, this was a more accurate predictor compared with the P-POSSUM and ASA scoring systems used currently in routine practice.

CONCLUSIONS

The WS is a promising tool for risk stratification of surgical patients. It is already collected routinely by nursing staff throughout hospitals in the UK and would therefore be easy to implement. However, further large prospective studies are required in order to validate these findings prior to its establishment for this role in everyday surgical practice.

The Prevalence and Severity of Dental Caries and Oral Hygiene Status of Asthmatic Children between the Age Group of 6 and 12 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aim

To assess the prevalence and severity of dental caries and oral hygiene status of 6 to 12 years old children with bronchial asthma.

Materials and methods

The study population consisted of 500 children between the age group of 6 and 12 years old, who were diagnosed with bronchial asthma and were under medication. DMFT score was assessed by WHO criteria (1997) and oral hygiene status was assessed by simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) by Greene and Vermillion (1964).

Results

The data was collected and analyzed using the SPSS package.15.6% of females had good oral hygiene status when compared to males who almost had 12.6 and 20.8% of children who were in the category of moderate persistent asthma had decayed teeth whereas only 4% of children in severe persistent asthma category had experienced with decayed teeth.

Conclusion

Moderate persistent group of asthmatic children who were consuming orobronchodilator form of medication are found to have high prevalence of dental caries than dry powder and metered dose inhaler.

How to cite this article

Anandhan V, Bharathan R, Venkataraghavan K, Reddy NV. The Prevalence and Severity of Dental Caries and Oral Hygiene Status of Asthmatic Children between the Age Group of 6 and 12 Years: A Cross-Sectional Study. World J Dent 2012;3(3):250-254.