Background: Large-scale studies characterizing septoplasty revision rates are lacking.
Learning Objectives: 1) To characterize revision rates for septoplasty procedures; and 2) to describe demographic factors that might increase risk of revision.
Study Objective: Identify rates of septoplasty in the United States.
Method: Adult patients undergoing septoplasty between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2013 were identified using the IBM MarketScan® Commercial Research Database. Patients were excluded if they had nasal vestibular stenosis (NVS), rhinoplasty, or bone grafts for the initial surgery or if they did not have at least a septoplasty, NSV, rhinoplasty, and/or bone grafts for their second surgery. Demographic data were also collected. Statistical comparisons were performed using multivariate logistic regression, chi-square, and t-test.
Results: We identified 295,236 patients who underwent an initial septoplasty. Within this cohort, 3,213 (1.1%) patients underwent a revision. Among patients who underwent a revision, 178 (5.4%) patients received a septorhinoplasty, among which 13 (7.3%) patients received a costal cartilage graft. Younger patients and those in the Northeast and West were more likely to undergo revision surgery, as were those on comprehensive and point-of-service insurance plans. High-deductible and exclusive provider organization health plans were associated with lower revision rates.
Conclusion: In this large cohort study of 295,236 patients, septoplasty revision rates were relatively low at 1.1%, with younger age, Northeast and Western region, and certain insurance plans being associated with increased revision risk. Further work is needed to characterize surgical risk factors that might predict septoplasty revision.