Infections After Sagittal Split Osteotomy: A Retrospective Analysis of 336 Patients

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine the rate of infection after bilateral sagittal split osteotomy.Materials and MethodsThe investigators implemented a retrospective case series study. To be included in this study, patients needed to have a complete medical chart and a postoperative follow-up of at least 3 months. The outcome variable was postoperative infections. The predicator variables were type of surgery, medical comorbidities, third molar extraction, smoking, type of fixation, and antibiotic prophylaxis. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed, and significance was set at P < .05. Multivariate analyses were performed with logistic regression.ResultsThe sample was composed of 336 patients with ages ranging from 13 to 65 years (27.2 ± 10.6). The rate of infection was 11.3%, and plates, screws, or both were removed in 10 patients (3%). There was a statistically significant association between age and infections (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07; P = .02).ConclusionsThe results of this study suggest that infection after bilateral sagittal split osteotomy is within normal range for a clean-contaminated procedure. Rigid fixation of the osteotomy may decrease the need for hardware removal.