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Updated: Oct 5, 2025
Endoscopic Septoplasty with Limited Two-line Resection: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Septal Deviation
Published on: June 20, 2018
Age and indication for pediatric septoplasty in the NSQIP-P database
1Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, 955 Main St, Buffalo, NY, 14203, USA.
Insights
Pediatric septoplasty is increasingly performed across all age groups, with younger children undergoing cleft lip repair. While complications like longer hospital stays are more frequent in younger patients, readmission and reoperation rates remain low.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Pediatric Surgery
Background:
- Pediatric septoplasty has been controversial due to concerns about growth alterations and potential revision surgeries.
- Recent trends suggest a shift towards earlier intervention to mitigate growth-related complications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the safety and outcomes of pediatric septoplasty.
- To identify trends in patient demographics, comorbidities, and perioperative factors.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric (ACS NSQIP-P) database.
- Inclusion of patients under 18 who underwent septoplasty (CPT code 30520) between 2012 and 2019.
- Grouping cases by primary procedure: cleft lip repair, sinus surgery, rhinoplasty/reconstruction/other, and primary septoplasty.
Main Results:
- 2290 pediatric patients were analyzed, with a mean age of 14.2 years.
- Patients undergoing cleft lip repair were youngest (mean age 9.3 years), with 28% under one year old.
- Younger age, female gender, and perioperative comorbidities were associated with longer hospital stays. Readmission (0.3%) and reoperation (0.7%) rates within 30 days were low.
Conclusions:
- Septoplasty is performed on children of all ages, with cleft lip repair patients representing the youngest demographic.
- Younger children undergoing septoplasty experience higher rates of prolonged hospital stays, but overall readmission and reoperation rates are low.
- Further research is required to understand the long-term health outcomes associated with pediatric septoplasty.
Introduction:
Pediatric septoplasty has been a historically controversial topic in the field of otolaryngology. Past recommendations avoided reconstruction during development because of the potential for growth changes after intervention that may require later revision surgery. Recent studies have considered early operation to avoid further growth complications, pointing at changing trends in the field.
Methods:
A retrospective study was conducted using the ACS NSQIP-P database to identify patients under 18 years of age who underwent a septoplasty between 2012 and 2019. Cases were identified using CPT code 30520 for 'septoplasty' and grouped by primary procedure as follows: cleft lip repair, sinus surgery, rhinoplasty/reconstruction/other, and septoplasty as primary procedure. Variables of interest included patient demographics, comorbidities, perioperative risk factors and complications.
Results:
2290 patients were included with a mean age of 14.2 years at time of surgery. Patients undergoing cleft lip repair were significantly younger than patients in the other procedure groups (mean age 9.3 years, p < .001), with 28% of the patients under 1 year of age. The most common comorbidity was congenital malformation (20.0%) followed by asthma (10.2%). Significantly longer total length of hospital stay was associated with younger age (p < .001), female gender (p = .007), and perioperative comorbidities (p < .001). 8 (0.3%) patients were readmitted within 30 days for reasons related to the primary septoplasty surgery and 15 patients (0.7%) had related reoperations within 30 days.
Conclusion:
Septoplasty is currently being performed on children of all ages. Children undergoing cleft lip repair account for the youngest demographic of pediatric septoplasty patients. General complications such as readmission and length of stay are more common in younger children undergoing septoplasty, however the number of readmissions and reoperations is relatively low. Further study is needed to describe the association between pediatric septoplasty and long term health outcomes.
