Abstract: PURPOSE: To analyze the general information,clinical symptoms, etiology of infection, and complications of oral and maxillofacial space infection in patients with different ages, in order to provide references for prevention of complications. METHODS: Three hundred and forty-eight patients with oral and maxillofacial space infection treated in the Oncology Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University were retrospectively analyzed from March 2007 to Feburary 2017. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 20.0 software package. RESULTS: All patients were divided into 2 groups. 152(43.68%) patients were senior and 196(56.32% ) patients were younger. In the two groups, male patients accounted for 59.69% in the younger group, 59.87% in the senior group. There was no significant difference. We also have found that label test and interval times of symptoms appeared to visit. There was no significant difference. 51.53% of the younger patients had negative bacterial culture results, which was significantly more than those of the senior groups. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with oral and maxillofacial space infection, senior patients had many similar clinical characteristics to younger patients, but senior patients suffered from more and severe complications.

Key words: Oral and maxillofacial space, Infection, Multiple space infection