Sagittal split osteotomy of the mandible is the most frequently used method in orthognatic surgery. Osteosynthesis was performed with wires in the 1970s. The instability of fixation allowed condyle movements and there was no problem of... more
Sagittal split osteotomy of the mandible is the most frequently used method in orthognatic surgery. Osteosynthesis was performed with wires in the 1970s. The instability of fixation allowed condyle movements and there was no problem of condylar positioning. The drawback of this technique was that it required a strict intermaxillary fixation for 6 weeks. Osteosynthesis evolved in the 1980s to a rigid and semi-rigid fixation, with no longer any need for an intermaxillary fixation. But accurately determining the condyle position in the fossa is essential when using a rigid fixation, because no spontaneous adaptation is possible. Moreover, an improper condyle positioning is known to increase short term skeletal relapse, inadequate corrections, and a high incidence of temporomandibular joint dysfunctions. Many solutions have been proposed to solve the problem of condylar positioning: manual positioning technique at osteosynthesis, and mechanical or computer assisted devices to control co...
For more than a century, the temporalis muscle has been used for facial reconstructions. More recently, a split temporalis muscle flap elevated on the superficial temporal pedicle has been described, for which the resulting gain of length... more
For more than a century, the temporalis muscle has been used for facial reconstructions. More recently, a split temporalis muscle flap elevated on the superficial temporal pedicle has been described, for which the resulting gain of length makes crossing of the midline possible, as well as reconstruction of substance losses exceeding the midline. Fourteen fresh cadaveric dissections were performed to study the different techniques for splitting the temporalis muscle. Dissections with catheterization and injection of radio-opaque contrasting agent in the external carotid artery were then performed to specify the vascularization of the flap split on the superficial temporal pedicle. The duplication of the superficial temporal pedicle grants greater length compared to that of the deep pedicles, 57 mm versus 40 (p = 0.036). The middle temporal artery is capable of ensuring the vascularization, and therefore the viability, of the split flap. From these results, we spoke about the limitations of this study and we have inferred the main indications.