Suprazygomatic Maxillary Nerve Block in Palatoplasty: A Retrospective Cohort Study of Perioperative Outcomes in Syndromic and Non-Syndromic Children

Abstract

Objective This study compares the impact of surgical site infiltration of local anesthesia alone to surgical site infiltration plus suprazygomatic maxillary nerve block (SMB) in non-syndromic and syndromic children undergoing primary palatoplasty. Design Retrospective cohort study of intra- and post-operative outcomes and opioid utilization in children undergoing palatoplasty by a single surgeon. Setting Urban, academic, tertiary care children's hospital. Patients, Participants Children 24 months or younger undergoing primary palatoplasty were included (n = 102). Exclusion criteria were concurrent painful procedures, history of neonatal abstinence syndrome, and nurse-controlled analgesia (n = 30). Interventions All patients received epinephrine-containing local anesthetic infiltrated at the surgical site. Fifty-seven also underwent placement of ultrasound-guided SMB. Main Outcome Measure(s) Intra-operative opioid requirement, duration of anesthesia, time to wake up, post-operative opioid requirement, hypoxemic episodes, need for respiratory support, FLACC scores, and length of stay. Results When controlling for syndromic status and cleft phenotype, SMB was associated with a 57% reduction in intraoperative opioid requirements (95% CI = 15–81%, p = 0.024) but also with a 29% (∼5-min) increase in wake-up time post-surgery (95% CI = 3–50%, p = 0.048). Postoperatively, SMB was linked to a 18% reduction in hospital stay length (95% CI = 2–31%, p = 0.027) and a 88% reduction in opioid requirements within 24 h after surgery (p = 0.006). Desaturations and new respiratory support requirements were unaffected by SMB. Conclusions Compared to surgical site infiltration of local anesthetic alone, adding SMB reduces intra- and postoperative narcotic requirements and decreases length of stay. These benefits apply to both syndromic and non-syndromic children. SMB does not meaningfully affect respiratory outcomes.