Day Care Surgery for Unilateral Alveolar Bone Grafting of Residual Clefts With Mandibular Symphyseal Bone-A Prospective Questionnaire Study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate patients' experiences of shortened hospitalization in relation to bone grafting of unilateral alveolar clefts with mandibular symphyseal bone grafts.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort questionnaire study.

SETTING

Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.

PATIENTS: Thirty-nine (male n = 26, female n = 13) patients with unilateral residual clefts after primary reconstruction, mean age 10.4 years.

INTERVENTIONS: All patients underwent a standardized procedure with closure of the alveolar defect using mandibular symphyseal bone grafts. Patients were discharged within a day after surgery. Within 24 hours after discharge from surgery, patients and their parents filled in a 14-item psychometric questionnaire assessing the quality of their recovery. For all questions, a visual analogue scale (VAS) (0-10) was used.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Patients' experience of shortened hospitalization in relation to secondary bone grafting of alveolar defects. Factors influencing the overall experience were measured using a VAS scale.

RESULTS

A significant correlation between "Information from the hospital" and feeling worried and anxious was found (P = .04). Additionally, the ability to sleep correlated with pain (P = .003) and with nausea (P = .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Although this study included a limited number of patients, the findings suggest that treatment of alveolar residual cleft with bone grafting from the mandibular symphyseal region in a day care surgery setting is characterized by very high patient satisfaction.