Prospective Evaluation of Perioperative Steroid Dosing on Postsurgical Edema in Orthognathic Surgery

The current standard of care at the Oral and Maxillofacial Department at the CDHA is the use of one gram of methylprednisolone administered intravenously prior to orthognathic surgery. This is largely based on the work of Habal. The administration of one gram of methylprednisolone can be concerning for the anesthesiologist since this is an unusually large dose of steroid in comparison to use in other surgical specialties. As with most medications, the chances of steroid-related complications increase with increasing doses of steroids. The researchers are proposing a prospective, double-blind randomized control trial to determine if a smaller dose of methylprednisolone (125mg) can be used safely and effectively instead of one gram of methylprednisolone.