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Infectious complications of craniofacial surgery in children

V Israele1, J D Siegel

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas 75235.

Reviews of Infectious Diseases
|January 1, 1989
PubMed

Insights

Craniofacial surgery in children can lead to infections, especially with combined monoblock repairs. Staged procedures are recommended to reduce infection risks in pediatric craniofacial surgery.

Area of Science:

  • Plastic Surgery
  • Pediatric Surgery
  • Craniofacial Surgery

Background:

  • Congenital anomalies often require complex oromaxillary and craniofacial surgical interventions in children.
  • Postoperative infectious complications are a significant concern in pediatric craniofacial surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the incidence of infectious complications in pediatric oromaxillary and craniofacial surgeries.
  • To identify risk factors associated with postoperative infections in craniofacial procedures.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective review of 219 pediatric patients undergoing oromaxillary or craniofacial surgery between 1975 and 1984.
  • Multivariate discriminant analysis to identify predictors of postoperative infection.
  • Comparison of infection rates across different surgical approaches (oromaxillary, intracranial, extracranial, combined monoblock).

Main Results:

  • No infections occurred after 56 oromaxillary procedures.
  • The overall infection rate for craniofacial surgery was 14.7% (24/163).
  • Combined monoblock repairs had a significantly higher infection rate (45%) compared to intracranial (8%) or extracranial (5%) procedures alone.
  • Key predictors of infection included operation length, procedure type, and patient age.

Conclusions:

  • Combined monoblock craniofacial repairs are associated with a substantially increased risk of postoperative infection in pediatric patients.
  • Staged surgical approaches are recommended to minimize infection rates in craniofacial surgery.
  • Careful consideration of operative time, procedure type, and patient age is crucial for managing infection risk.

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