Risk factors for common complications associated with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy, a literature review and meta-analysis

Abstract The most common complications that are associated with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy are: bad splits, postoperative infection, removal of osteosynthesis material, and neurosensory disturbances of the lower lip. Particularly in elective orthognathic surgery, it is important that surgeons inform their patients about the risk of these complications and attempt to minimize these risks. The purpose of this literature review and meta-analysis is to provide an overview of these common complications and their risk factors. After a systematic electronic database search, 59 studies were identified and included in this review. For each complication, a pooled mean incidence was computed. Both the pooled study group and the pooled ‘complication group’ were analysed. The mean incidences for bad split (2.3% per SSO), postoperative infection (9.6% per patient), removal of the osteosynthesis material (11.2% per patient), and neurosensory disturbances of the lower lip (33.9% per patient) are reported. Regularly reported risk factors for complications were the patient’s age, smoking habits, presence of third molars, the surgical technique and type of osteosynthesis material. This information may help the surgeon to minimize the risk of these complications and inform the patient about the risks of complications associated with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy.