Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical value of vacuum sealing drainage(VSD) for oral and maxillofacial space infections in children. METHODS: Eight children less than 10 years old with oral and maxillofacial space infections were included. Their clinical data including etiology, clinical characteristics, infection progress and treatment were reviewed and analyzed. Infection index and hospitalization days of 8 children were recorded. Among them, two were treated by vacuum sealing drainage (VSD group), six were treated by traditional incision drainage (traditional group). The hospitalization day and mean WBC were compared with SPSS 17.0 software package. RESULTS: The mean WBC had no significant difference between the 2 groups before operation(P>0.05). Both indexes decreased after treatment, significant difference was found between the 2 groups(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Vacuum-assisted closure therapy is useful to improve recovery of children with oral and maxillofacial space infections compared to conventional dressing.

Key words: Vacuum sealing drainage, Children, Oral and maxillofacial region, Space infection