Let's know from our patients: PPOPS score for palate surgery evaluation/a pilot study.

AIM: To introduce a questionnaire that can be used to assess the post-operative perception of the patients after palatal surgery. The questionnaire was named: Palate Post-Operative Problems Score (PPOPS).

STUDY DESIGN: Pilot study.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was performed at Morgagni-Pierantoni hospital, Forli. Forty patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who performed either expansion sphincter pharyngoplasty (ESP) or barbed reposition pharyngoplasty (BRP) in our hospital were divided into two groups, 20 patients per group. The patients' answers to the PPOPS questionnaire were recorded and their total scores were compared in addition to each item separately. PPOPS questionnaire consists of 12 items scored from 0 to 3 with a total score from 0 to 36.

RESULTS: The overall average scores between both groups were similar being 4.05 for the BRP and 4.35 for the ESP with P value 0.4. From the results of the questionnaire, the patients favoured choosing BRP than ESP although some items showed better results among ESP patients and the difference between both techniques is not statistically significant. Every item score was separately compared and described in details later in the results.

CONCLUSION: PPOPS questionnaire can be an additional useful tool for the assessment of any kind of palatal surgery through detailed analysis of the patients' perception for their surgery. BRP and ESP are similar procedures in the idea and results.