Orthognathic surgery in patients with systemic diseases

To review the experience with orthognathic surgery in patients with systemic diseases, syndromic conditions or an oncological history at a tertiary center.

All patients who had undergone orthognathic surgery and all patients who were considered for orthognathic surgery between January 2013 and August 2020 at a tertiary center were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with cleft lip/palate and orthognathic patients requiring craniofacial surgery or reconstructive surgery were excluded. Patients with an underlying disorder were identified and divided into 3 categories: systemic disease, syndromic condition, or oncological disease treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy of the head and neck. Data on intraoperative and postoperative complications until 3 months after surgery were collected for the patients who had undergone surgery. If orthognathic surgery was contraindicated, the reason was extracted from the patient's medical record.

Eighty out of 1049 orthognathic patients had an underlying disorder (7.6%), including 50 patients with at least one systemic disease, 25 patients with a syndromic condition, and 5 patients with an oncological disease. A complication was encountered in respectively 5 (10%), 9 (36%), and 0 (0%) patients. Three out of 1134 patients who consulted the multidisciplinary orthognathic-orthodontic consultation had a contraindication for orthognathic surgery because of an underlying disease (0.3%).

Based on our findings, intraoperative and short-term postoperative complications in patients with an underlying disorder are not frequent. Contraindications for orthognathic surgery because of a medical condition are very rare.