INTRODUCTION: Condylar fracture is a common mandibular fracture which accounted for 25–40%. For several years, closed reduction has been preferred over open reduction to avoid surgical complications. Nowadays the preference started to change towards open reduction because of the late complications that might happen in case of closed treatment. Different plating options are available for internal fixation of the condyle and subcondylar region. Trapezoidal Condylar Plates (TCP) specifically developed for the osteosynthesis of low and high subcondylar fracture.
OBJECTIVES: comparison between the TCP and standard two miniplates in fixation of subcondylar fracture clinically and radiographically.
METHODOLOGY: Twenty patients with subcondylar fracture, 10 in each group (Group A underwent fixation with TCP and group B underwent two miniplates fixation) were treated with open reduction and internal fixation. Intraoperatively, the application time for each plate type was compared. Postoperatively, clinical and radiographical follow up were in 1 week, 1 month and 6 months intervals.
RESULTS: Intraoperatively, TCP showed less application time and more convenient use than two miniplates. Clinically, most of the cases reached normal mandibular function at 6 months. the two treatment groups had no statistically significant differences. At 1 month, no patients complained of pain related to the surgery. The computed tomographs of the 20 patients indicated a proper anatomical reduction. Along the 6 months, all cases showed stable fixation without significant change in ramus height or condylar angulation.
CONCLUSION: The use of TCP showed comparable results to two miniplates in fixation of subcondylar fractures.