Cambios en los signos vitales de los estudiantes de sexto semestre de odontología durante su primer ejercicio de exodoncia

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the variations of the vital signs in the students of sixth semester of dentistry before, during and after their first exercise of exodontics in the University Santo Tomás de Bucaramanga. Methodology: This study is cross- sectional, 45 dental students were evaluated before and after they performed their first surgical procedure, 10 men and 35 women were evaluated who were enrolled in the Comprehensive Adult Clinic I subject of the dentistry program of the Santo Tomás University de Bucaramanga in the second academic period of 2018. The measurements of the vital signs were made with a monitor MINDRAY PM-8000 except for the temperature that was taken with digital MICROLIFE brand thermometer and the respiratory frequency was measured manually. The statistical analysis was carried out through the ANOVA and Friedman tests according to the distribution of the variables. The post-hoc analysis was carried out using the non-parametric Wilcoxon test. Results: Significant changes were found in heart rate and blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) before and during compared to after the first extraction performed by the participants. On the other hand, the temperature and respiratory rate did not show statistically significant variations in the three measurements. Conclusions: The study evidenced significant changes in some of the vital signs, reflected even without having started the extraction. These results can be related to anxiety and stress as influential factors for vital signs to be affected. Evaluating these measurements together with psychometric studies, would give a more detailed result of how the sympathetic tone can increase or decrease when performing the first extraction, thus altering the vital signs.