Abstract: PURPOSE: To analyze the related risk factors of complications and intensive care unit(ICU) monitoring in patients hospitalized for oral and maxillofacial space infection(OMSI). METHODS: A total of 144 patients with OMSI admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2021 to March 2022 were selected. The patient's age, gender, length of hospital stay, systemic diseases, body mass index(BMI), source of infection and number of involved sites, complications, and laboratory indicators including white blood cell count(WBC), neutrophil percentage (NEU%), C-reactive protein (CRP) were collected. SPSS 25.0 software package was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Among 144 patients with OMSI, 52 cases (36.1%) had complications, of which 34.6% had symptoms of airway obstruction; 54 cases (37.5%) were transferred to ICU. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high CRP value (OR=1.005, 95%CI: 1.000-1.011, P=0.048) were risk factors for patients with possible complications. Complications(OR=5.249, 95% CI: 1.644-16.754, P=0.005), hospital stay longer than 10 days (OR=1.166, 95%CI: 1.049-1.295, P=0.004), more space involvement(OR=2.719, 95%CI: 1.658-4.460, P<0.001), and high BMI (OR=1.262, 95%CI: 1.050-1.515, P=0.013) were independent risk factors affecting ICU monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: High CRP and BMI values and the number of infected spaces are closely related to the complications of patients and ICU monitoring. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the management of such patients and take comprehensive consideration in the treatment process to avoid the occurrence of adverse prognosis.

Key words: Oral and maxillofacial region, Space infection, Complication, Risk factors, Prognosis