Abstract: PURPOSE: To explore the influence of postoperative feeding in patients with maxillofacial deformity, and to provide a reference for the selection of postoperative feeding mode in patients with oral and maxillofacial deformity. METHODS: The subjects were patients admitted to our hospital for orthognathic surgery from October, 2016 to May, 2017. They were divided into two groups： nasogastric feeding group (2 hours after nasal intubation was pulled out, feeding fluid with the gastric tube for more than 24 hours) and oral feeding group (2 hours after nasal intubation was pulled out, feeding fluid by oral cavity). The Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) was used to investigate the oral health-related quality of life. SPSS 18.0 software package was used to analyze the data. RESUILS: One hundred and two cases were enrolled, the average age was 24.1±4.4 years; 63.7% were female; 63.8% were undergraduate; 55.9% were in-service staffs and 28.4% were students; 82.4% patients were unmarried. There was no significant difference in age, sex, education level, occupational and marital status between the two groups. The scores of oral health of two groups were 35.2±9.295 and 31.36±7.505, respectively, with significant difference (P<0.05). The functional limitations and ability limit scores of each dimension were statistically significant (P<0.05) between the two groups. Indwelling gastric tube for 3 days postoperatively can increase the intake of nutrient solution, especially 1 d and 2 d postoperatively. The amount of nasal feeding nutrient solution was significantly higher than that of oral feeding (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The indwelling gastric tube for 3 days after orthognathic surgery can improve the quality of life related to oral health, significantly increase the intake of postoperative nutrient solution, and provide guarantee for early recovery of patients after surgery.

Key words: Dentomaxillofacial deformity, Orthognathic surgery, Quality of life, Indwelling gastric tube