Introduction:

Mandibular distraction osteogenesis is a relatively new surgical technique to relieve mandibular lengthening airway obstruction in patients with mandibular hypoplasia. It has revolutionised the management of defects in the field of craniofacial surgery, and the procedure has become widely accepted in hospitals worldwide.

Goals:

To describe the evolution and rate of complications in the immediate postoperative period following mandibular distraction osteogenesis in the Mother and Child Hospital of Granada, Andalusia's referral hospital for this technique.

Material and methods:

Descriptive observational study of children who underwent mandibular distraction in the period between 2006 and 2016. A total of 20 patients were included. The data were analysed with the statistical package SPSS Statistics 20.

Results:

The children required admission to ICU for a median of 5.5 days (2-9), the total days of hospital stay were a median of 8 (4.25 to 14). A total of 10 patients (50%) developed a fever. Enteral nutrition was established, on average, at 2 days after surgery.

Conclusions:

Patients with Pierre Robin sequence may have severe retro/micrognathia causing them symptoms including from difficulty in air entry to obstructive apnoea, in which case mandibular distraction is the treatment of choice. After this intervention the postoperative period should be in ICU for airway management and other care. According to the data presented, we conclude that the postoperative period is short and with a low rate of complications.

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