Risk Factors for Wound Healing After Surgical Removal of Maxillary Odontogenic Cysts

Objective: Odontogenic cyst surgeries are commonly performed procedures, but they may present challenges with wound healing during the postoperative period. However, insufficient research exists on this topic. This study aimed to determine the risk factors linked to incomplete wound healing after removing a benign odontogenic cyst in the maxilla. Methods: This study involved patients who underwent transoral Caldwell–Luc surgery and endoscopic endonasal surgery to treat benign odontogenic cysts located in the maxilla between 2014 and 2024 at the University Hospital. Investigated risk factors included demographic factors (gender, age), medical history (comorbidities, smoking habits), cyst size, and serum inflammatory markers like neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII). After 3 months of the postoperative period, patients were classified as either having incomplete or optimal healing. Results: Smoking affected incomplete wound healing (χ²=6.09, P=.0136). Large cysts are associated with the development of poor healing (odds ratio (OR)=7.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20 to 47.05, P=.0473). Also, high NLR and SII levels were found to be essential factors in suboptimal wound healing (OR=4.667, 95% CI 0.42 to 52.12, P=.294; OR=9.1, 95% CI 1.39 to 59.62, P=.037, respectively). Conclusion: This study emphasized the significance of assessing cyst size, smoking status, and inflammatory metrics like serum NLR and SII before benign odontogenic cyst surgeries. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and SII, easily obtained from routine serum tests, may serve as cost-effective prognostic values for wound healing, replacing expensive immunological biomarkers.