Conocimiento de los estudiantes de odontología en la prevención y tratamiento de las complicaciones quirúrgicas en las clínicas odontológicas de la Universidad Santo Tomás

Abstract

Introduction. This study evaluated the knowledge of dental students regarding the prevention and management of surgical complications, given the critical importance of being well-prepared to address both intraoperative and postoperative complications and to ensure the delivery of high-quality care. Objective. Determine the level of knowledge of students from the sixth to the tenth semester at the Universidad Santo Tomás regarding the prevention and treatment of surgical complications. Methods. An observational cross-sectional study, conducted non-probabilistically by convenience, was performed with a sample of 151 students from the sixth to the tenth semester, active in the academic year 2024-1. Following validation by three experts, a questionnaire was administered to assess the students' knowledge of surgical and postoperative complications. The data were analyzed using univariate and bivariate statistical methods. Results. Of the participants, 66.89% were female, with an average age of 22 years. The results indicated that across the different semesters, the most participants had a regular level of knowledge (68.21%), 11.9% had good knowledge, while 19.9% had poor knowledge. The best-understood topics were alveolitis (90.73%) and trismus (82.12%), whereas subcutaneous emphysema (37.09%) and the Nelaton maneuver (37.75%) had lower percentages of correct responses. The comparison between students in the sixth and tenth semesters did not reveal significant differences in knowledge levels (p ≥ 0.05). Additionally, no significant relationship was found between knowledge and sociodemographic variables such as the current semester (p ≥ 0.05). Conclusions. Knowledge did not show improvement in higher semesters, indicating the need to review and enhance teaching methods and both practical and theoretical training at these levels.