title: Complications related to surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goals of this retrospective clinical study were to identify surgically assisted rapid palatal expansion (SARPE) complications and assess their incidence, with the aim of informing surgeons and orthodontists of the risks of this widely used procedure before they recommend it to patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between June 2008 and July 2010, 60 patients (23 women and 37 men) underwent SARPE according to a defined multidisciplinary protocol at the University of Marmara, Istanbul, Turkey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve patients (20%) suffered from nasal bleeding. Of these 12, 2 patients suffered late-onset bleeding beginning on postoperative day 8, and in the other 10, nasal bleeding was insignificant. Three patients reported excessive lacrimation postoperatively. Minor problems related to pain and numbness were all temporary.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SARPE procedures have traditionally been reported to be associated with low morbidity, especially in comparison with other orthognathic surgical procedures. However, many complications have been reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Guhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dergin
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: sertacaktop@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Sertac
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aktop
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Altan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varol
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Faysal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ugurlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Garip
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056948:Orthognathic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D010155:Palatal Expansion Technique; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology