Complications following surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion: a retrospective cohort study

To examine the prevalence of complications and characterize the associated clinical findings in patients undergoing surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE).

A retrospective evaluation was conducted of all patients who underwent SARPE from January 2004 through December 2008 at Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center. Medical records were abstracted, and demographic factors and relevant comorbidities were identified. Clinical features of patients with complications (surgical and/or dental) after SARPE were characterized.

One hundred thirty-one patients comprised the study sample and 11 patients were excluded. Of the remaining 120 patients (median age, 29.5 yrs; interquartile range, 22.0 to 39.0 yrs), 51.7% were women, 41 developed at least 1 complication, 33 had surgical complications, 18 had dental and/or periodontal problems, and 10 developed both surgical and dental or periodontal problems. Asymmetric and/or inadequate expansion was the most frequent surgical complication, found in 13.3% of the study cohort, and gingival recession (8.3%) was the most common dental complication. Two patients developed catastrophic periodontal bone defects resulting in loss of the central incisors; these patients had eccentric interdental osteotomies that caused separation of the bone from the root surface of the central incisors followed by postoperative osteotomy site infections.

Overall, the present findings suggest that, although major complications after SARPE were rare, asymmetric or inadequate expansion and dental and/or periodontal problems primarily involving the central incisors accounted for most complications. Future prospective and long-term follow-up studies are needed to identify individual risk factors that may predispose patients to adverse outcomes after SARPE.