Palatal Perforation as a Rare Complication of Nasal Septoplasty.

BACKGROUND: Nasal septoplasty is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures by otolaryngologists or plastic surgeons and is generally performed to improve the quality of life. Although nasal surgeries are generally safe and effective procedures, various complications have been described in the literature.

METHODS: In this article, we present a rare case of fracture of a part of the hard palate resulting in palatal perforation after nasal septoplasty surgery early diagnosed and successfully treated.

RESULTS: Patient follow-up 1 year after oronasal closure revealed complete healing of the hard palate without the presence of fistula.

CONCLUSIONS: Palatal perforation during septoplasty is extremely rare and, even though it is not a life-threatening complication, has potentially annoying effects; according to its size, it can result in nasal speech, oral health problems, and nasal regurgitation of liquids and is sometimes related with reconstructive challenging problems.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the A5 online Instructions to Authors. www.springer.com/00266 .