Association of Depression and Anxiety With Postoperative Complications After Septoplasty With Turbinoplasty

OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the association between comorbid depression and anxiety and postoperative complications following septoplasty with turbinoplasty, and assess whether treatment of these conditions influences surgical outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study with propensity-score matched analysis. SETTING: Multi-institutional database study utilizing the TriNetX Research Network. METHODS: The TriNetX Research Network was utilized to identify patients undergoing septoplasty and concurrent turbinoplasty; propensity score-matched analyses were conducted after adjusting for demographics and medical comorbidities. Postoperative complication rates for anosmia, epistaxis, opioid prescription, emergency department (ED) visits, sinusitis, readmission, and septal perforation were compared among patients without depression or anxiety, patients with untreated depression/anxiety, and patients with medication-treated depression/anxiety. RESULTS: Patients (n = 5012 per group) without depression or anxiety had lower odds of epistaxis (OR 0.70, P = .0083), sinusitis (OR 0.62, P = .0019), ED visits (OR 0.52, P < .0001), hospital readmission (OR 0.55, P < .0001), and postoperative opioid prescription (OR 0.77, P < .0001) than patients with depression/anxiety. Patients (n = 4470 per group) with untreated depression/anxiety had higher odds of epistaxis (OR 3.94, P < .0001) but a lower 90-day risk of hospital readmission (OR 0.38, P < .0001) and opioid prescription (OR 0.69, P < .0001) compared to treated depression/anxiety. CONCLUSION: Comorbid depression or anxiety are associated with differences in outcomes following septoplasty with turbinoplasty. Future studies are needed to clarify the impact of treating psychiatric disorders on postoperative outcomes following otolaryngology procedures.