Assessing the feasibility of using autogenous maxillary bone graft to repair isolated orbital floor fractures: a pilot study using CT measurements.

AbstractOrbital floor fractures are a common injury managed by oral maxillofacial surgeons. They can result in significant bony defects that increase the orbital volume and necessitate surgical repair to avoid the development of enophthalmos. A variety of materials have been used in the reconstruction of orbits including alloplastic materials and autogenous bone grafts. The use of the anterior maxillary antral wall as a bone graft offers the advantage of being readily accessible, naturally thin and less donor site morbidity than other bone graft sites. There is a paucity of literature in regards to how and when to use an anterior maxillary antral wall graft.We performed a retrospective review of CT head scans for patients presenting with isolated orbital floor fractures over a 5-year period. Study sample consisted of 25 patients. Manual measurements were recorded for the orbital floor defect and the dimensions of the ipsilateral and contralateral anterior maxillary wall. It was found that 92% of fractures could have been repaired using a contralateral anterior maxillary wall bone graft (p<  0.05). Further study using three-dimensional bio-modelling could help fine tuning this technique for orbital floor repair in selected individuals.
Source: Oral Surgery - Category: ENT & OMF Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research