• Steven Goudy, Pawina Jiramongkolchai, and Sivakumar Chinnadurai.
• Department of Otolaryngology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.
• Laryngoscope. 2017 Apr 1; 127 (4): 945-949.

Objectives/HypothesisDetermine predictive patient characteristics that guide the decision to proceed with surgical management of tongue-based airway obstruction (TBAO) in Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) patients.Study DesignRetrospective review of PRS patients between 2005 and 2014 requiring observation in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).MethodsPatient charts were reviewed for prenatal diagnoses, clinical course, and need for surgical intervention (tracheotomy or mandibular distraction osteogenesis), and the nonsurgical and surgical group were compared with a logistic regression model.ResultsThirty-eight PRS patients who were identified with TBAO and required NICU observation had an average follow-up of 5.4 years. Associated anomalies identified in the PRS patients included neurologic disease (n = 6), renal abnormalities (n = 5), limb abnormalities (n = 4), and cardiac abnormalities (n = 12). Nonsurgical management of PRS TBAO included side (n = 12)/stomach positioning (n = 15), oral airway (n = 6), nasopharyngeal airway (NPA) (n = 14), and intubation (n = 12). Surgical intervention occurred in 13 patients, with tracheotomy in eight due to unstable airway, and mandible distraction in five due to NPA dependence. Factors with significant uncontrolled correlations with the need for surgical airways included presence of cardiac disease (P = .03), cardiac disease severity (P = .03), neurologic disease (P = .01), and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)/bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) use (P = .006). Further, stepwise regression showed strong predictive value for CPAP/BiPAP use (odds ratio [OR]: 10.43) and presence of neurological disease (OR: 9.16). PRS TBAO patients required multiple modalities of noninvasive surgical intervention to stabilize their airway.ConclusionsThis study identified patient characteristics predictive of progression to a surgical airway to address TBAO, which may decrease healthcare utilization and improve quality of life for these families.Level Of Evidence4 Laryngoscope, 127:945-949, 2017.© 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

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