Distribution of orthognathic surgery among the Swedish population: a retrospective register-based study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to provide a nationally representative assessment of orthognathic procedures performed in hospitalised patients in Sweden and study regional differences in prevalence, demographic parameters and hospitalisation time. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare's register, all the patients undergoing orthognathic surgery between 2010 and 2014 were identified. Outcome variables were categorised into: (1) Surgical methods and regional distribution (2) Demographic variations (3) Hospitalisation time. RESULTS: The population-prevalence-rate of orthognathic procedures over the 5-year period was 6.3 (SD 0.4) per 100,000 persons, a regional difference in the prevalence was found. Most common were Le Fort I osteotomies (43.4%) and bilateral sagittal split osteotomies (41.6%), 39% of the patients had bimaxillary surgery. The majority of the surgery was performed in the age group 19-29 (68.8%). The mean hospital stay was 2.2 days (SD = 0.9, range 1.7-3.4). A significant regional difference (p ≤ 0.001) was found in hospitalisation time for single-jaw versus bimaxillary surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Regional differences in the distribution of orthognathic surgery and demographic variations were found in Sweden in 2010-2014. The underlying causes of variations are still unknown and request further investigation.