Secondary alveolar bone grafting in cleft lip and palate: A comparative analysis of donor site morbidity in different age groups.

INTRODUCTION: There is no consensus regarding the optimal timing for secondary alveolar bone grafting for clefts defects. We aimed to investigate the potential correlation between the age of patients during surgery, donor site symptoms, surgical time and hospitalization following this procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The outcome of 195 consecutive alveolar bone grafting procedures among different age groups (mean: 7.1 years; range 1.8-40.5) was retrospectively assessed based on a chart review and purpose-prepared report forms. The association between age, gender and hospitalization following bone harvesting was tested by Spearman rank correlation, while relationships (i.e. between age and pain) were evaluated by logistic regression. RESULTS: The most frequent donor site complaints included: pain equal to or exceeding that of the recipient site (93%) and gait disturbances (92.5%) immediately after the procedure. Chronic complaints included: iliac contour alteration (40.1%), unsightly scar (23%) and recurring discomfort (2.1%). Statistical analysis showed no correlation between donor site symptoms, their duration or hospitalization time following surgery at different ages, except a higher incidence of significant pain immediately after bone harvesting in older females (r = 0.268; p = 0.030). CONCLUSION: Alveolar bone grafting at an earlier age does not increase donor site symptoms, surgical duration or hospitalization following surgery.

Optimal Timing of Alveolar Cleft Bone Grafting for Maxillary Clefts in the Cleft Palate Population.

PURPOSE: Timing of bone grafting for maxillary alveolar clefts is not standardized. Secondary bone grafting is often performed; however, consensus does not exist regarding use of chronologic versus dental age to guide treatment. Several authors suggest an early chronologic age is associated with greater success. Available literature was systematically reviewed for evidence for optimal timing for grafting maxillary alveolar clefts. METHODS: PubMed, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Central Registrar of Controlled Trials databases were queried for manuscripts pertaining to maxillary alveolar cleft bone grafting. Inclusion criteria included manuscripts with level of evidence 4 or greater. Studies not using bone graft, lacking postoperative follow up, and clinical reports were excluded. Seventeen articles met criteria. RESULTS: Nine manuscripts recommended grafting based on dental age prior to eruption of the permanent canines, while 8 recommended grafting between ages 7 to 12. The most commonly reported complication was wound dehiscence, followed by graft-site infection. Ten studies used perioperative treatment protocols, 8 of which included preoperative and/or postoperative orthodontia for maxillary expansion. Correlation between chronologic age and success was not significant, but trended towards greater success with increasing age. CONCLUSION: Success of secondary grafting is high, but significant variability exists in the timing of grafting. Evidence is lacking to support specific chronologic age; rather, perioperative protocols, systematic surgical technique, and a multidisciplinary discussion are likely more substantial in achieving success, and may be confounders in studies where an early age at grafting appears associated with success. The timing of bone grafting for maxillary alveolar clefts would benefit from a prospective randomized study.

Comparison of the Speech Results After Correction of Submucous Cleft Palate With Furlow Palatoplasty and Pharyngeal Flap Combined With Intravelar Veloplasty.

Submucous cleft palate (SMCP) is a relatively rare variant of the common pathology of cleft palate with specific anatomic and clinical features. Even though there are many surgical options defined previously to correct the SMCP, correction of the velopharyngeal insufficiency and obtaining ideal speech results remains as a challenge. The aim of this article was to compare the speech benefits of Furlow double opposing Z plasty and posterior pharyngeal flap operation combined with intravelar veloplasty for the correction of SMCP using objective assessment tools. This study reviewed 29 patients who underwent either superiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap combined with intravelar veloplasty or Furlow palatoplasty for submucous cleft palate repair between years 2005 and 2011. The mean standard deviation age at palate repair was 123.6 ±â€Š65.8 months and the mean follow-up period was 31.2 ±â€Š15.9 months. The postoperative results demonstrated that in both groups significantly correction has been achieved in means of velopharygeal closure (P values for Furlow and pharyngeal flap groups are 0.012 and 0.001 respectively). The correction of the nasalance scores obtained depending on the surgical procedure for /sa/ and /ka/ syllables demonstrated significantly more benefit with pharyngeal flap combined with intravelar veloplasty than Furlow palatoplasty (P = 0.026 for each). In the treatment of submucous clefts, both Furlow palatoplasty and pharyngeal flap procedure combined with intravelar veloplasty appear to be effective whereas for the patients having significant signs of hypernasality, contribution of pharyngeal flap may be taken into consideration.

Mucosal Dehiscence After Alveolar Bone Graft in Cleft.

Cleft lip and palate patient represent a challenging experience for the surgeon. This kind of patients had to be followed by a multidisciplinary team from the beginning to the end to avoid the deformation sequelae. During the several surgical procedures, the bone graft represents a possible procedure that, through the new procedure, could be avoided. Unfortunately, patient treated following the previous procedure must be submitted to alveolar bone graft to coordinate the arch, to restore the maxillary integrity, to allow the correct dentition.

Invasiveness of Tibial Bone Graft Harvesting for Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting: Can Harvesting Be Performed at the Age of Less Than 10 Years Without Complications?

PURPOSE: In this study, particulate cancellous bone marrow was harvested from the tibia for alveolar bone grafting, and postoperative complications at the donor site were compared between patients aged 10 years or older (29 tibias) and those aged younger than 10 years (42 tibias). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Enrolled patients were those who underwent tibial bone graft harvesting at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Aichi Gakuin University, during a period of 3 years and 1 month from March 2012 through March 2015. We examined clinical findings at the time of harvesting and changes in symptoms during hospital admission in study 1. Follow-up examinations and survey questionnaires on symptoms also were investigated to clarify medium- to long-term postoperative outcomes in study 2. RESULTS: In both age groups, medium- to long-term postoperative findings showed no apparent adverse events, except for acceptable levels of scar tissue. Clinical findings on harvesting and early postoperative findings showed that intraoperative blood loss, early postoperative pain, and gait disorders were similar between the group aged younger than 10 years and the group aged 10 years or older. However, the latter group needed a considerably longer time for ambulation and weight-bearing pain to disappear and for every movement in daily activities to return to normal. Regarding patients with a bilateral alveolar cleft, we found no significant difference between the first and second harvesting in the factors affecting postoperative morbidity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that tibial bone graft harvesting is safe and requires a shorter recovery period even in patients aged between 8 and 10 years.

Avaliação da dor na área doadora de pacientes com fissura labiopalatina submetidos a reparo do defeito ósseo alveolar com enxerto autógeno de crista ilíaca: um estudo prospectivo randomizado comparando dois extratores ósseos / Assessment of donor area pain in patients with cleft lip and palate undergoing alveolar bone defects repairs using iliac crest autogenous grafting: a prospective randomized comparison of two bone extractors

INTRODUÇÃO: Enxerto ósseo autógeno é o padrão no tratamento da falha óssea alveolar. Como a morbidade na área doadora após a obtenção de enxerto ósseo continua sendo um problema relevante em pacientes fissurados, este estudo avaliou a dor na área doadora de pacientes fissurados submetidos ao tratamento de falhas ósseas alveolares com a transferência de enxerto ósseo obtido da crista ilíaca, por meio de um estudo prospectivo randomizado, comparando dois extratores ósseos. MÉTODO: Trinta e seis pacientes com fissura labiopalatina, submetidos ao reparo da falha óssea alveolar com enxerto obtido da crista ilíaca com auxílio do extrator ósseo SOBRAPAR (grupo A) ou extrator ósseo UCLA (grupo B), foram incluídos. A dor na área doadora foi avaliada no período pós-operatório com auxílio da escala numérica unidimensional de dor (0- "sem dor"; 10- "pior dor que se pode imaginar"). RESULTADOS: As médias das mensurações da dor na área doadora não revelaram diferenças significativas (p>0,05 para todas as comparações) nas comparações realizadas entre os grupos A e B, em nenhum dos momentos pós-operatórios avaliados. Houve um maior número (p<0,05) de pacientes do grupo B que não reportaram dor na área doadora, quando comparado ao grupo A. CONCLUSÕES: Este estudo apresentou um maior número de pacientes do grupo B "sem dor", quando comparado aos pacientes do grupo A, não existindo diferenças entre aqueles que reportaram quaisquer notas diferentes de zero.

INTRODUCTION: Autogenous bone grafting is the standard treatment for alveolar bone defects. However, morbidity in the donor area after the bone graft has been obtained continues to be a significant problem in cleft patients. This prospective randomized study compared donor area pain associated with the use of 2 bone extractors in patients with cleft lip and palate, who underwent treatment of alveolar bone defects using a bone graft obtained from the iliac crest. METHOD: Thirty-six patients with cleft lip and palate underwent alveolar bone defect repair using a graft from the iliac crest, harvested with either a SOBRAPAR bone extractor (group A) or UCLA bone extractor (group B). Donor area pain was evaluated in the postoperative period with the aid of a unidimensional numerical pain scale (0, "no pain"; 10, "worst pain imaginable"). RESULTS: Comparison of the mean donor area pain score did not reveal any significant differences (p >0.05 for all comparisons) between the groups A and B, at any of the postoperative times evaluated. A significantly higher number of patients in group B reported no pain in the donor area, compared with group A (p <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that a significantly greater number of patients in group B reported "no pain", compared with patients in group A; with regard to patients who reported any level of pain greater than zero, there were no between-group differences.

Increase in age is associated with worse outcomes in alveolar bone grafting in patients with bilateral complete cleft palate.

This prospective study aimed at evaluating the surgical outcomes of alveolar bone grafting (ABG) in subjects with bilateral cleft lip and palate treated at the Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies, University of São Paulo, Bauru, Brazil, by means of cone-beam computed tomography. Twenty-five patients with bilateral complete cleft lip and palate, resulting in 50 clefts, were analyzed. Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to the dentition status at the time of surgery: (1) SABG group: subjects with mixed dentition operated on before or immediately after eruption of the permanent canine (10-13 years); (2) TABG group: subjects with permanent dentition (15-23 years). Cone-beam computed tomography analysis was performed in the buccal, intermediate, and palatal views, 2 and 6 to 12 months postoperatively. In the SABG group, 96% of the grafts were classified as successful, and no failure cases were observed. In the TABG group, successful cases decreased to 65%, and failures were seen in 27% of the cleft sites. In both postoperative periods, significantly better outcomes (lower mean scores) were observed for the SABG group in all the cone-beam computed tomography views (P < 0.05). Results show that the timing of surgery is an important factor in determining the outcomes of ABG in patients with bilateral cleft lip and palate, with increasing age being associated with the worse outcomes.

Predictors of complication for alveolar cleft bone graft.

We have analysed the predictors of postoperative complications and the need for reoperation after grafting of the alveolar cleft from one specialised cleft centre. The data were obtained from hospital casenotes of patients operated on from December 2004 to April 2010, with a minimum one-year follow-up from the final operation. Independent variables included postoperative complications and the need for reoperation. Conditional variables were sex, age, type of cleft, sides affected, donor area, type of graft material, and the presence of an erupted tooth in contact with the cleft. A total of 71 patients had bone grafted on to the alveolar cleft. The following associations were found to be significant: postoperative complications and need for reoperation (p=0.003); age and complications (p=0.002); affected side and complications (p=0.006); age and reoperation (p=0.000); sex and reoperation (p=0.001); and type of cleft and reoperation (p=0.001). Proper attention should be given to all the variables and risk factors to overcome the many obstacles that might have an adverse influence on a successful outcome of alveolar bone grafting for patients with clefts.

Management of failed alveolar bone grafts: improved outcomes and decreased morbidity with allograft alone.

BACKGROUND: This study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of allograft alone in revision alveolar bone graft surgery. METHODS: A retrospective review of the authors' institution's alveolar bone graft experience (from 2004 to 2012) with open iliac crest bone graft, minimal-access iliac crest bone graft plus supplemental allograft, and revision allograft alone was performed. All patients (n = 47) were treated with alveolar fistula repair with primary closure. RESULTS: Group 1 patients (12 male, 10 female; average age, 10 years) received iliac crest bone graft alone; 17 had unilateral and five had bilateral clefts. Group 2 (eight male, six female; average age, 9 years) received an iliac crest bone graft plus allograft; six clefts were unilateral and eight were bilateral. Group 3 (six male, five female; average age, 13 years) received revision allograft alone; seven clefts were unilateral and four were bilateral. Average operative time/alveolus was shortest in group 3 compared with groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.0005). Average engraftment was better in group 3 than in group 1 (p < 0.001) and similar to that in group 2 (p < 0.079). Revision alveolar bone graft with allograft alone improved Enemark scores from 3.7 preoperatively to 1.0 postoperatively (p < 0.0001). Hospital stay was shortest in group 3 compared with groups 1 and 2 (p < 0.0001). Bone graft extrusion occurred in six patients (27.3 percent) in group 1, no complications occurred in group 2, and a single necrotic central incisor was lost at the time of revision bone grafting in group 3 (9.1 percent). CONCLUSION: Allograft alone is safe and effective and provides a reliable alternative when traditional alveolar bone graft with iliac crest bone graft has failed. CLINICAL QUESTIONS/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic, III.