Surgical management of patients with Eagle syndrome

Eagle syndrome, a spectrum of disease resulting from an elongated styloid process and/or calcified stylohyoid ligament, lacks standardized recommendations regarding indications for surgical intervention and approach.

Retrospective cohort study.

Single tertiary care institution.

Patients treated surgically for Eagle syndrome between January 2011 and June 2017.

Patients were diagnosed with Eagle syndrome based on thorough clinical workup and assessment. The primary outcome was improvement in pain severity following surgery, with complete resolution of pain being considered clinically meaningful. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and Fisher's exact were used to compare numerical and categorical variables, respectively.

Twenty-one patients were diagnosed with Eagle syndrome and underwent surgical resection of the styloid process. Patients most often complained of neck pain (81%), throat pain (62%), and ear pain (48%). Among these patients, 57% of procedures featured a transcervical approach, while the remaining 43% were transoral. The vast majority (90%) of patients experienced improvement in pain severity from a median of 6.0 before surgery to 0.0 afterwards (p < 0.01) as 62% experienced complete resolution. Using multivariable linear regression to model changes in pain severity, neck pain (β = -1.69, p < 0.01) and jaw pain (β = -0.93, p = 0.03) predicted greater relief, while headache (β = 0.82, p = 0.04) predicted an inferior response. Adverse events were uncommon and typically resolved within three months, with 24% experiencing first bite syndrome and 19% reporting numbness.

Transcervical and transoral styloidectomy are effective treatments for Eagle syndrome with minimal adverse effects. Patients with classic symptoms of neck or jaw pain benefit most from surgery.