Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate low cut medial osteotomy versus traditional sagittal split osteotomy regarding the Osteotomy duration, incidence of bad split and Postoperative neurosensory disturbance.
Patients and methods:
Twelve eligible patients with skeletal class II deformity were enrolled to the current study to undergo sagittal split osteotomy (SSO) for mandibular advancement procedure. The patients were divided into two equal groups, low (Posnick/ study group) and high (traditional/control group) SSO. Outcomes included intraoperative assessment of osteotomy split quality, duration and incidence of postoperative complications of bad split involving the neurosensory disturbance (NSD).
Results
The mean age of patients was 22.5 year. The average osteotomy duration was 17.30 and 22.21 minutes for low/Posnick SSO and high/ standard SSO respectively. Regarding the incidence of bad split, the high SSO showed more incidence of bad split compared to Posnick (low) osteotomy. The incidence of immediate Postoperative NSD was similar for both groups. However, most of Posnick (study) group revealed complete nerve recovery at 6 months compared to the high SSO.
Conclusion
Low cut / Posnick SSO is a valuable osteotomy technique. Compared to the traditional SSO, it showed shorter osteotomy duration and decreased incidence of bad split. It further results in complete neurosensory recovery on the extended (6 months) follow up period.