Evaluation of Preoperative Salivary Cortisol Level in Patients Undergoing Major Maxillofacial Surgery

AIM: The main purpose of the study was to compare the preoperative salivary cortisol levels 3 days before the major surgery under general anesthesia and to compare it with the patients undergoing extraction under local anesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two patients were undergoing major surgery and 42 age- and sex-matched patients undergoing dental extraction were included and their salivary cortisol levels were analyzed before and after the dental procedure. RESULTS: Results showed that there is a significant increase in the mean salivary cortisol concentration after extraction (23.7 ± 9.2) than before extraction (18.9 ± 23.7) in the study group (P = 0.015) as well as in the control group. The comparison between salivary cortisol in the study group before (18.9 ± 23.7) and after (23.7 ± 9.2) surgery was significantly higher than the control group (15.2 ± 5.5) (P = 0.013 and 0.005), respectively. CONCLUSION: We have concluded from this study that the salivary cortisol level shows a significant increase on the day of surgery.