Does septoplasty performed at the same time as oropharyngeal surgery increase complication rates?

Objectives/Hypothesis To determine whether septoplasty when combined with ambulatory oropharyngeal surgery increases postoperative complications. Study Design Cross-sectional analysis of multistate ambulatory surgery and hospital databases. Methods Ambulatory adult septoplasty and oropharyngeal surgical procedures (tonsillectomy and uvulopalatoplasty [UPPP]) were extracted from the state ambulatory surgery databases for New York, Florida, Iowa, and California for 2010-2011. Cases with concurrent sinus surgery were excluded. Cases were linked to the state emergency department databases and the state inpatient databases to identify revisits within 14 days. The rates of unplanned revisits and postoperative bleeding were determined and compared among groups undergoing solely oropharyngeal surgery versus groups undergoing oropharyngeal surgery combined with septoplasty. Results Among 26,280 tonsillectomies alone versus 1,002 tonsillectomies + septoplasty, rates for unplanned revisits and hemorrhage were 13.2% and 12.8% (P =.66) and 4.9% and 7.0% (P =.003), respectively. Among 2,598 UPPPs alone versus 1,343 UPPPs + septoplasty, rates for revisits and hemorrhage were 11.4% versus 10.1% (P =.242) and 3.5% versus 3.8% (P = 0.683), respectively. Among 389 UPPP/tonsillectomies versus 164 UPPP/tonsillectomies + septoplasty, rates for revisits and hemorrhage were 11.8% versus 8.5% (P =.256) and 3.9% versus 6.1% (P =.247), respectively. Among all cases and groups, there were mortalities only in the UPPP alone group. Conclusions The addition of septoplasty to oropharyngeal ambulatory surgical procedures does not significantly increase the rate of unplanned revisits or postoperative hemorrhage except in the case of septoplasty added to tonsillectomy, with a small percentage increase in hemorrhage rate. Combining septoplasty with ambulatory oropharyngeal surgery is clinically reasonable in adults. Level of Evidence 2b Laryngoscope, 125:2828-2831, 2015