Long-term Complications of Palate Surgery: A Multicenter Study of 217 Patients

Objectives/Hypothesis: To investigate long-term complications of newer reconstructive palate surgery techniques. Study Design: Retrospective case-series analysis. Methods: Retrospective six-country clinical study of OSA patients who had nose and palate surgery. Results: There were 217 patients, mean age = 43.9 ± 12.5 years, mean body mass index = 25.9 ± 4.7, mean preoperative apnea-hypopnea index [AHI] = 30.5 ± 19.1, follow-up 41.3 months. A total of 217 palatal procedures were performed, including 50 expansion sphincter pharyngoplasties (ESP), 34 functional expansion pharyngoplasties (FEP), 40 barbed reposition pharyngoplasties (BRP), 64 modified uvulopalatopharyngoplasties (mUPPP), 11 uvulopalatal flap procedures (UPF), nine suspension pharyngoplasties (SP), eight relocation pharyngoplasties (RP), and one z-pharyngoplasty (ZPP). Complications included were constant and/or felt twice per week; dry throat (7.8%), throat lump feeling (11.5%), throat phlegm (10.1%), throat scar feeling (3.7%), and difficulty swallowing (0.5%). Of the 17 patients who had a dry throat complaint, two were constant (one SP, one RP), 15 were occasional (10 mUPPP, three SP, two BRP). Of the 25 patients with the throat lump feeling, four were constant (three RP, one ZPP), 21 were occasional (10 mUPPP, five SP, five UPF, one BRP). Of the 22 patients with the throat phlegm feeling, four were constant (two SP, two RP), 18 were occasional (10 mUPPP, four BRP, two FEP, two SP). Of the eight patients with throat scar feeling, eight were occasional (four SP, two mUPPP, one FEP, one RP), none were constant. One patient had difficulty swallowing (RP procedure). There was no velopharyngeal incompetence, taste disturbance, nor voice change. Highest symptom complaints were mUPPP, SP, and RP, whereas the lowest symptom complaint was ESP. Conclusions: Newer palatal techniques have shown to have less long-term complications compared to the older ablative techniques. Level of Evidence: 4 Laryngoscope, 130:2281–2284, 2020.