The pharyngeal airway is an anatomical region that can be affected by orthognathic surgery. Accurate prediction of pharyngeal airway changes before orthognathic surgery is important for surgical treatment planning.

Aim

The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability of two dimensional pharyngeal airway prediction method on orthognathic surgery patients have different skeletal patterns.

Material and methods

The study included 25 orthognathic surgery patients (18 skeletal Class III and seven skeletal Class II). Airway predictions were made with Dolphin Imaging software (Version 11.0) and compared with lateral cephalograms taken at least six months after orthognathic surgery. Arnett/Gunson FAB (face, airway, bite) analysis was used for pharyngeal airway prediction. Intra-group evaluation was made with Paired-t test, and independent-t test was used for inter-group evaluation.

Results

In Class II group Soft palate length (Spl), Oropharyngeal airway (Opa) and Nasopharyngeal airway (Npa) measurements were predicted similar with postoperative cephalometric results (P>0.05), although significant differences were found in Hypopharyngeal airway (Hpa) and Deeppharyngeal airway (Dpa) (P<0.05). In Class III group Npa, Opa and Hpa regions were predicted statistically different from the actual results (P<0.05).

Conclusion

The pharyngeal airway space prediction made by FAB analysis of the 2D Dolphin Imaging software was found to be more consistent with the postoperative results in skeletal Class II orthognathic surgery patients compared to skeletal Class III orthognathic surgery patients. In orthognathic surgery planning, the skeletal pattern of the patients and airway changes should be considered.