Aim: To compare patient perceptions of midface distraction osteogenesis (DO) and conventional orthognathic surgery (CO).
Method: Using a validated questionnaire 22 DO patients and 22 CO patients were surveyed. Key themes explored including reasons for surgery, perioperative experiences, benefits of treatment and the quality of information provided.
Results: More patients in the DO group underwent surgery to improve speech whereas more CO patients reported problems eating as a reason for surgery. Post-operative experiences were similar with regards to swelling, bruising and pain although analgesic control was better in CO. DO patients had ‘more than expected’ difficulty in eating (p=0.014) and numbness compared to CO. Following discharge more DO patients experienced ‘worst pain ever’ (p=0.014) with a duration ‘longer than expected’ (45%). Forty five percent of DO patients had orthodontic treatment for longer than 2-3 years compared to 27% for CO. Both groups reported similar expected and achieved benefits from surgery in terms of self-confidence, facial appearance and improvement in social life. More CO patients had ‘lower than expected’ improvement in smile than DO patients. CO patients had greater improvements in the ability to eat whereas DO patients reported greater improvements in speech.
Conclusion: Both groups reported that they were well informed about their surgery and orthodontic treatment. Both groups report benefits from surgery but twice as many CO patients stated they would have the treatment again compared to DO. Although both groups experienced similar problems post-operatively DO patients were more likely to have residual problems including numbness and difficulties eating.