Situações de emergência médica vivenciadas por cirurgiões-dentistas de centros de especialidades odontológicas de Fortaleza (Ce)

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the situations of medical emergencies experienced by dentists who work in Dental Specialties Centers in Fortaleza, Ceará, as well as the behaviors adopted by these professionals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data from 23 dental surgeons were analyzed, collected through structured questionnaires. The variables surveyed were: the CEO where they worked, gender, length of professional experience, the phases included in the clinical evaluation, the frequency of pressure measurement, the number of occurrences of emergency situations in the last 12 months, emergency situations medical conditions, the conducts performed, the training in Basic Life Support (BLS), the ability to diagnose and the ability to intervene in an emergency situation. The data were analyzed statistically in the software Statistical Packcage for the Social Sciences® (SPSS) version 22.0 for Windows, and later, tabulated. In its analysis, tests were used with a 5% significance level. RESULTS: 86.9% of dental surgeons reported having faced some emergency medical situation during dental care, occurring after the patient's anesthesia (70%) or during surgical procedures (60%), with lipothymia being the most prevalent (85 %). Interrupting the dental procedure and placing the patient in a supine position with elevated feet were the most reported behaviors (70%). There was also a lack of statistically significant association between the fact of “having BLS training” and the variables: “ability to diagnose” and “ability to intervene”, taking into account that the small sample size is a limitation of this study. CONCLUSIONS: it was possible to conclude that most of the participants went through emergency situations when working in the clinic. Moreover, there are reports of inability to diagnose and intervene in the face of emergency situations.