Is Cleft Lip or Palate a Risk Factor for Perioperative Complications in Orthognathic Surgery?

Perioperative outcomes following cleft orthognathic surgery are not well established. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of orthognathic specific complications (OSCs) in patients with and without cleft lip and/or palate.

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program adult and pediatric databases were used to enroll patients undergoing orthognathic surgery. The primary predictor variable was a prior diagnosis of cleft lip and/or palate: cleft versus noncleft. The primary outcome variable was OSCs (yes/no) within 30 days of the index operation. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple logistic regression statistics were computed to measure the association between cleft status and OSCs.

The study sample was composed of 1,149 subjects: 98 in the cleft group and 1,051 in the noncleft group. The incidence of OSCs was 6.1 and 4.7% for the cleft and noncleft groups, respectively (P = .461). After adjusting for age, cleft status, bone grafting, segmentation of the maxilla, and history of bleeding disorder, classification as American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) III (P = .002, odds ratio [OR] = 3.92, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.63-9.40), ASA IV (P = .039, OR = 9.47, 95% CI 1.12-80.4), and isolated mandibular osteotomies (P = .006, OR = 3.23, 95% CI 1.40-7.48) were independent predictors of OSCs. Length of stay was 1.66 ± 1.14 days compared to 1.37 ± 3.74 days for the cleft and noncleft groups, respectively (P = .443).

There was no significant difference in the incidence of perioperative OSCs and length of hospital stay between cleft and noncleft patients. Cleft status was not an independent predictor of OSCs; instead, greater ASA classification and isolated mandibular osteotomies were the only predisposing factors. Patients with clefts undergoing orthognathic surgery do not have an increased risk of short-term OSCs within the limitations of this study.