Risk factors for sinus membrane perforation during lateral window maxillary sinus floor elevation surgery: A retrospective study

PURPOSE: To analyze the sinus membrane perforation (SMP) rate and its potential risk factors during lateral window maxillary sinus floor elevation (LSFE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: For patients with LSFEs at Department of Implantology, Stomatology Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang Universitiy during January 2014 to December 2020, patient-related risk factors (age/sex/smoking habit), surgery-related risk factors (operator experiment/number of tooth units/technique of osteotomy/surgical approach), and maxillary sinus-related risk factors (residual bone height/sinus membrane thickness/lateral wall thickness/maxillary sinus contours/presence of septa/blood vessels at the lateral maxillary sinus wall) were compared between perforated and nonperforated sites and were evaluated for their influence affecting SMP. RESULTS: The study sample comprised 278 LSFE procedures in 278 patients; a total of 47 LSFE procedures (16.91%) presented SMP. Four significant factors were identified: smoking habit (p < 0.001), thin (≤1.5 mm) sinus membrane (p = 0.027), maxillary sinus contours (p < 0.001), and presence of septa (p = 0.001). The SMP rate of irregular, narrow tapered, and tapering sinus contours was significantly higher than that of ovoid and square one (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In general, smoking habit, thin sinus membrane, irregular, narrow tapered, and tapering sinus contours, and presence of septa may increase the risk of SMP during LSFE.