Is There an Increase in the Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnea After Isolated Mandibular Setback Surgery? An Evaluation Using the STOP-BANG Questionnaire.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of isolated mandibular setback surgery on the risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), using the STOP-BANG questionnaire (SBQ).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The authors implemented a double-blinded prospective quasi-experimental study. All healthy patients with skeletal Class III deformity older than 18 years were included in this study. They were candidates for isolated mandibular setback surgery. The SBQ was completed by the pulmonologist, 1 week preoperatively (T0), and 1 and 6 months postoperatively (T1 and T2, respectively). The mandibular setback displacement was the study intervention. The risk of OSA on the basis of the SBQ was the outcome variable. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed and the significance level was set at .05.

RESULTS

The sample comprised 30 patients (15 females, 15 males) with the average age of 25.77 ± 4.76. The mean score of SBQ at T0 was 1.37 ± 0.85, which increased to 2.33 ± 1.52 at T1 interval. However, it decreased significantly to 1.47 ± 1.17 at T2 interval (P < .001). T0-T1 and T0-T2 score differences were observed to be higher in the group with a mandibular setback repositioning greater than or equal to 5 mm (P < .005).

CONCLUSIONS

An isolated mandibular setback surgery less than 5 mm does not increase the risk for OSA in a young healthy nonsmoker Class III patient, according to the SBQ. Moreover, there was a significant increase in the risk for OSA when the setback was greater than or equal to 5 mm, measured at the mandibular incisor edge. Therefore, clinicians should be careful and discuss this potential increased risk with the patients, when this movement is required by the treatment plan. Further clinical trials are needed to support the relevancy.