HU Min 1 , WANG Yanyi 2 , ZHANG Lihai 3 , YAO Jun 4
  • 1Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, 2Department of Stomatology, 3Department of Orthopaedics, 4Department of Medical Technology, General Hospital of Chinese PLA, Beijing, 100853, P.R.China.;
Mandible; Condylar fracture; Open reduction; Non-surgical treatment; Children
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Objective To compare the effectiveness of open reduction and conservative treatment for pediatric mandibular condylar fractures and to provide the evidence for the selection of cl inical therapy. Methods The cl inical data were retrospectively analyzed from 25 patients with the mandibular condylar fractures between January 1988 and December 2006. Of them, 8 patients (11 fractures) were treated with surgical treatment (surgical group) and 17 patients (22 fractures) with
non-surgical treatment (non-surgical group). In surgical group, there were 6 males (9 fractures) and 2 females (2 fractures) with an age range of 8-13 years; fracture was caused by tumbl ing in 7 cases and by traffic accident in 1 with an interval of 1-6 days between injury and hospital ization; and 5 cases were identified as unilateral condylar fractures (3 compl icated by mental fractures) and 3 cases as bilateral condylar fractures compl icated by mental fractures. In non-surgical group, there were 12 males (15 fractures) and 5 females (7 fractures) with an age range of 3-12 years; fracture was caused by fall ing from height in 4 cases, by tumbl ing in 10, and by traffic accident in 3 with an interval of 1-25 days between injury and hospital ization; and 12 cases were identified as unilateral condylar fractures (3 compl icated by mental fractures) and 5 cases as bilateral condylar fractures (1 compl icated by mental fracture). Results Incision healed by first intention in surgical group, and 25 cases were followed up 1-6 years with an average of 3.5 years. At 12 months after treatment, no temporomandibular joint pain, eating disorder, or l imited mandibular movement occurred in 2 groups. No significant difference was observed in opening mouth extent, protrusive and lateral movements between 2 groups at 6 and 12 months (P  gt; 0.05). During centric occlusion, mental point located at the midl ine with symmetric face figure. Two patients in surgical group and 3 in non-surgical group had sl ight snap when opening their mouths. Mandible deviation was observed in 3 patients of 2 groups, respectively when gaping. The X-ray films showed heal ing of fracture and condylar remodel ing at 3-6 months. Mandibular ramus were symmetric in cephalometry. Conclusion Good effectiveness can be obtained by surgical or non-surgical treatment in pediatric mandibular condylar fractures. Considering the pediatric mandibular condyle having powerful heal ing and reconstructing potency and avoiding secondary injury on the temporomandibular joint from surgery, non-surgical treatment should be first selected for the pediatric mandibular condylar fractrues in patients under 7 years.

Citation： HU Min,WANG Yanyi,ZHANG Lihai,YAO Jun. COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF SURGICAL AND NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR PEDIATRIC MANDIBULAR CONDYLAR FRACTURES. Chinese Journal of Reparative and Reconstructive Surgery, 2010, 24(12): 1440-1443. doi: Copy