Complication rates of radiofrequency surgery in the upper airways: a single institution experience.
CONCLUSIONS
Radiofrequency (RF) surgery of the upper airways appears to be a safe procedure with an acceptable incidence of minor and moderate complications.


OBJECTIVE
RF surgery is increasingly used in the treatment of patients with sleep disordered breathing and inferior turbinate hypertrophy. Our aim was to investigate the incidence and the severity of the complications of RF surgery in the upper airways.


METHODS
This was a retrospective, observational study at a tertiary care centre, academic teaching hospital during 1 year. Data from medical records were collected on 753 consecutive patients treated with RF surgery of the inferior turbinate, soft palate and base of the tongue. Patients with synchronous surgical treatment were excluded.


RESULTS
In all, 413 patients (66.3% males) with a mean age of 44.7 years (range 8-83 years) were treated with 2926 RF surgery ablations in 524 treatment sessions. There were no severe complications. The overall incidence of minor and moderate complications was low, i.e. 2.7% (11/524) and 0.6% (3/524) of the treatment sessions, and 0.5% (11/2926) and 0.1% (3/2926) of the ablations, respectively.
Bäck
Leif J J
LJ
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. leif.back@helsinki.fi
Liukko
Tommi
T
Sinkkonen
Saku T
ST
Ylikoski
Jukka
J
Mäkitie
Antti A
AA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010160:Palate, Soft / Q000601:surgery*; D016634:Radiosurgery / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012913:Snoring / Q000601:surgery; D014059:Tongue / Q000601:surgery*; D014420:Turbinates / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult