Craniomaxillofacial Trauma & Reconstruction

A prospective randomized comparative study was conducted to evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of the retromandibular transparotid (RMT) approach with endoscopic-assisted transoral (ENDO) approach used for open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of adult mandibular subcondylar fractures.

To evaluate and compare the primary functional outcome using the Helkimo’s dysfunction index, the surgical ease, the incidence of facial nerve weakness, the cosmetic outcomes and the number of complications following ORIF of mandibular subcodylar fractures using the RMT and ENDO approaches.

In this prospective study, 20 patients with unilateral/bilateral subcondylay fractures requiring ORIF were recruited between 2017 and 2018. Patients were randomly divided into RMT and ENDO group, 10 patients in each. Clinical and radiological assessment was done preoperatively and in postoperative period it was done at different intervals over the period of 6 months. The intraoperative parameter time taken during surgery was correlated for association with the time elasped since day of trauma and with the fracture severity. Similarly, the presence of multiple fractures of the mandible and postoperative occlusion were evaluated for the association.

Comparable functional results were noted in both groups without any statistical significance. ORIF in ENDO group proved to be more time-consuming. For the RMT group, visible scars were rated best or close to best at the end of 6 months but a greater number of facial nerve injuries were reported in the RMT group.

Superiority of one approach over others cannot be established since the outcomes were not statistically different. However, the ENDO approach appears to be safer. Therefore, there is a need for the development of innovative armamentarium which would improve the dexterity and ease of the surgeon and hence the total time taken for this minimally invasive approach for the management of subcondylar fracture.

The present study is a systematic review of the literature.

The goal of this study is to review our experience and the current literature on airway management techniques in maxillofacial trauma.

Independent searches of the PubMed and MEDLINE databases were performed from January 1, 2019 to February 1, 2019. Articles from the period of 2008 to 2018 were collected. All studies which described both airway management and maxillofacial trauma using the Boolean method and relevant search term combinations, including “maxillofacial,” “trauma,” and “airway,” were considered.

A total of 452 relevant articles in total were identified. Articles meeting inclusion criteria by abstract review included 68 total articles, of which 16 articles were focused on airway management techniques for maxillofacial trauma in the general population and were deemed appropriate for inclusion in the literature review.

Establishing an effective and stable airway in patients with maxillofacial trauma is of paramount concern. In both the acute setting and during delayed reconstruction, special considerations must be taken when securing a reliable airway in this patient population. The present article provides techniques for securing the airway and algorithms for utilization of these techniques, including both during the initial evaluation and the definitive operative management.

Retrospective case series.

Speech language pathology (SLP) is an underutilized but important component in rehabilitation after tracheostomy. The purpose of this study was to determine rates of SLP utilization and to streamline tracheostomy decannulation to be more efficient and safer through increased utilization of SLP.

Adult patients who underwent tracheostomy from April 2016 to December 2018 were evaluated. The primary outcome was completion of any SLP evaluation after tracheostomy, and secondary outcomes were duration from surgery to evaluation, speaking valve and swallow study utilization, downsize and decannulation rates, mean duration of cannulation, and complications.

A total of 255 subjects were included, where 197 (77.3%) underwent SLP evaluation. A minority received a speaking valve (33.7%), while approximately half underwent a swallow study (52.9%). There was a delay in SLP evaluation, with mean duration from surgery to SLP evaluation of 5.9 ± 8.0 days. There was consistent improvement in downsize and decannulation rates in all cohorts that utilized SLP services. Tracheostomy indication of head and neck cancer, trauma, completing a successful swallow study conferred increased odds of eventual decannulation, while obesity and tracheostomy history conferred lower odds. An interdisciplinary decannulation pathway was created, based on literature review and results, to assist in decision-making while progressing toward decannulation.

Speech language pathologists are underutilized for rehabilitation of tracheostomy patients, where they are able to offer many skills to diagnose, treat, manage, and troubleshoot, as patients advance through the decannulation process.

Violence against women is a challenge in public health. It involves women of all ages, socioeconomic statuses, cultures, and religions.

The objective of this study was to perform an epidemiological survey of facial trauma among women who experienced physical aggression by an intimate partner.

Electronic medical records from a public tertiary referral hospital for trauma in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo were analyzed between 2013 and 2018.

Patients were most commonly between 20 and 29 years of age (33.9%), and 50% of the patients were of mixed race. When separated by days of the week, facial trauma was most commonly inflicted on Sundays (24.2%) and on Saturdays (22.6%). Of the 62 women included in the study, 47 had facial fractures, and 7 had more than 1 concomitant fracture. Forty of the total fractures (72.7%) were on the middle and upper thirds of the face, while 15 fractures (27.3%) were on the lower third of the face. The most commonly observed signs and symptoms of these injuries were edema (56.5%), periorbital ecchymosis (35.5%), deviated nasal dorsum (22.6%), and hematoma (16.1%).

Facial trauma may be considered an important marker of attempted femicide. Health care professionals must be aware of and attentive to this correlation, since many cases of attempted femicide go unnoticed or are attributed to another etiology.

A retrospective study investigating maxillofacial bone fractures in the pediatric and adolescent population.

The aim of this study was to present our experience in the management of pediatric facial bone fractures.

This was a retrospective study of maxillofacial bone fractures in children and adolescents between the ages <1 year and 19 years in a Saudi Arabian subpopulation. Data collected include demographics, etiology, pattern, and treatment of maxillofacial bone fractures. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows Version 25 (IBM Corp.). Results were presented as simple frequencies and descriptive statistics.

Of the 1297 patients with maxillofacial bone fractures, 247 were cases involving children and adolescents giving a prevalence of 19.0% (247 patients, N = 1297). There were 233 males and 14 females with an M:F ratio of 16.6:1. The ages ranged from 9 months to 19 years with a mean ± SD of 14.4 ± 4.6. The age-group between 16 and 20 years had the highest frequency of patients (144 (58.4%)). In the 1- to 5-year group, falls accounted for most of the etiology (15 (6.1%)), while in the 16- to 20-year group, motor vehicular accident (MVA) was the main reason (120 (48.6%)). The majority of the fractures occurred in the mandible with 151(61.1%) cases. Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) were the main treatment modality in 171 (69.2%) patients.

MVA was the main etiology of maxillofacial fractures in children and adolescents with male predominance, while the mandible had been the most frequently fractured bone. ORIF was the main treatment modality.

An experimental in vitro study.

Plate fractures are a recurrent problem in alloplastic mandibular reconstruction. Hypothetically it can be assumed that computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) reconstruction plates have a higher stability than conventional hand-bent plates. The aim of the study was to compare additive and subtractive fabricated CAD/CAM mandibular reconstruction plates as well as conventional plates with regard to their biomechanical properties.

In a chewing simulator, plates of 2 conventional locking plate systems and 2 CAD/CAM-fabricated plate systems were compared. The plates were loaded in a fatigue test. The maximum number of cycles until plate fracture and the plate stiffness were compared.

While all conventional plates fractured at a maximum load between 150 and 210 N (Newton) after a number of cycles between 40 000 and 643 000, none of the CAD/CAM plates broke despite a nearly doubled load of 330 N and 2 million cycles. Both CAD/CAM systems proved to be significantly superior to the hand-bent plates. There was no difference between the 2 CAD/CAM systems.

Concerning the risk of plate fracture, patient-specific CAD/CAM reconstruction plates appear to have a significant advantage over conventional hand-bent plates in alloplastic mandibular reconstruction.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognosis of the teeth in the mandibular fracture line and to analyze the relationship between the degree of displacement of fracture fragments, the relationship of the fracture line to the periodontium, and the relationship between the condition of the teeth at the first postoperative (post-op) year.

A total of 60 teeth from 38 patients (11 female and 27 male) who had erupted teeth in the line of mandibular fracture and were treated with open reduction were examined. The data were collected from the patients’ clinical records and radiographs. Age at the time of injury, gender, cause of trauma, site of fracture, the relationship of the fracture line to the periodontium, the degree of displacement of fracture fragments, and the condition of the teeth in the line of the fracture at the first post-op year were evaluated.

The degree of displacement of fracture fragments had an effect on the condition of the teeth at the first post-op year (P = .036) and the regions of the mandible had an effect on the degree of displacement of the fracture fragments (P = .000). The survival rate of the pulp of the teeth was 69.8%.

A preventive approach should be preferred for teeth in the mandibular fracture line. Retained teeth in the fracture line should be monitored clinically and radiologically for at least 1 year, and unnecessary endodontic treatments should be avoided.

A retrospective study was undertaken of a cohort of facially injured patients using matched 8-week periods: non-COVID (2019) and COVID (2020).

To determine whether there were any changes to the frequency and characteristics of facial injury due to the imposition of COVID-19 social distancing measures.

The primary predictor variable was an 8-week period of COVID-19 social distancing. The primary outcome variable was the sustaining of a facial injury. Demographic (age/gender) and injury characteristics (mechanism, site, and treatment) were also studied. Descriptive statistical analysis was undertaken and comparison made using Pearson χ² and Fisher’s exact tests.

The number of facial injuries decreased from 103 (2019) to 73 (2020). There were statistically significant differences in changes over time for the 8-week periods. There were some clinically apparent differences seen in the characteristics of facial injuries.

The imposition of COVID-19 social distancing changed the frequency and characteristics of facial injury.

A retrospective cohort study.

The world was unprecedentedly struck by the new coronavirus in December 2019. Consequently, lockdown measures were imposed by many governments. Health-care services were reserved for emergencies and malignancies. Nevertheless, many patients who urgently needed these services did not present. This study estimates the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown measures on the patients’ flow in the outpatient clinic (OPC) and the operations for laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal neoplasms.

This study is a retrospective cohort study performed in otolaryngology department of a tertiary care hospital which is a major referral center. All patients who attended the OPC and all operations performed for laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal neoplasms were counted from February 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020 and compared with the previous year as a reference.

In 2020, the number of patients attending the otolaryngology OPC and the laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal surgeries showed a major drop, especially after imposing the lockdown measures. The total number of these operations in April and May 2019 dropped by 79% for the same period in 2020.

An estimate of 79% of patients, who had been presenting for laryngeal and/or oropharyngeal neoplasms, did not show up due to indirect COVID-19 effect.

A case report.

To describe a modification of percutaneous reduction of frontal sinus and/or naso-orbito-ethmoid (NOE) fractures, adding an endonasal intercartilaginous incision to provide a second vector of manipulation.

Case report with particular attention paid to surgical technique, followed by a brief review of relevant literature.

Technique: A Carroll-Girard screw is used to engage the thickest part of the anterior wall of the frontal bone through a stab incision just superior to the frontonasal junction. An endonasal intercartilaginous incision is then made and a Cottle elevator is introduced to manipulate the fracture from the inferior aspect of the frontonasal junction. The percutaneous screw and the endonasal elevator provide perpendicular vectors for manipulation, thereby improving ability to reduce fractures when percutaneous traction alone is not successful. The technique is described here in a patient with anterior table frontal sinus fractures combined with posteriorly displaced Markowitz type 1 NOE fractures.

While percutaneous reduction of frontal sinus fractures has been previously described, this report adds a subtle but important modification both in indication and technique for optimizing reduction while maintaining surgical simplicity and minimizing morbidity.