Orthognathic surgery complications: The 10-year experience of a single center

The retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the incidence and characteristics of these complications in patients who underwent orthognathic procedures. Data on the intraoperative and the postoperative complications were extracted from the patients' medical files. Procedures were further subdivided into single-jaw procedures and bimaxillary procedures. A total of 209 orthognathic procedures were carried out in 190 patients. 184 (88%) were performed to treat angle class III malocclusion, while 25 (12%) aimed to treat class II malocclusion. A total of 94 complication events were observed (44.9% of 209 procedures). 22 of them occurred in single-jaw procedures (28.2% of 78 single jaw operations), and 72 occurred in bimaxillary procedures (55% of 131 bimaxillary operations). When compared regarding the type of complication, complication rates were comparable between the study groups with the exception of late-stage malocclusion. A significant difference (p-value = 0.028) in malocclusion incidences between the bimaxillary and single-jaw groups were observed (9 events, 4.3% and zero events, 0%, respectively). The majority of the complications during and following orthognathic surgical procedures are temporary or minor and require little or no treatment at all.