In-House 3D Printed Positioning and Cutting Guide System for Mandibular Reconstruction. Protocol and case report.

Maxillofacial surgery planning has been improved by technological advances in 3D printing. The use of customized cutting and positioning guides allows intraoperative reproduction of pre-planned osteotomy cuts, resulting in increased surgical accuracy, reduced surgical time and improved esthetic and functional outcomes. Our paper presents a new method for creating and printing in-house cutting and positioning guides. A computer program (Brainlab iPlan) was used to segment the mandible for three-dimensional planning from imported conventional computed tomography (CT) scans. The virtual model of the mandible was printed on a stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer and a reconstruction plate was adapted to the printed model. The surface of the model and the screw-retained plate was scanned using a structured light surface 3D scanner (Artec Eva). The obtained scan of the jaw and plate in position was processed and transformed into an STL file. Free software (Autodesk Meshmixer) superimposes the initial jaw on the scanned jaw with the plate, designing a customized hybrid cutting guide that allows accurate intraoperative positioning, knowing the exact position of the reconstruction plate screws in the jaw. The total design, fabrication and 3D printing time for the in-house hybrid guide was 595 min. The average total printing cost was EUR 16. We found the technique to be simple and repeatable. We present and describe here a novel and simple technique for in-house 3D printed positioning and cutting guide system which can be applied to overall maxillofacial area. In cases of mandibular reconstruction, this protocol guarantees an adequate esthetic and functional result. Key words:Oral cancer, 3D surgery, CAD/CAM, personalized medicine, surgical guides, in house.

Clinical Outcomes and Cost Analysis of Fibula Free Flaps: A Retrospective Comparison of CAD/CAM versus Conventional Technique.

(1) Background: A decrease in operative time can not only improve patient outcomes through a reduction in the risk of developing complications but can also result in cost savings. The aim of this study is to determine whether there an intraoperative time gain can be achieved by using the preoperative virtual planning of mandibular reconstruction using a free fibula flap compared with freehand plate bending and osteotomies. (2) Methods: A retrospective comparative study was carried out in the Oral and Maxillofacial Department of La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain. The study compared 18 patients in the CAD/CAM group with 19 patients in the conventional freehand group. A comparison was made between the total surgical time, the comorbidities, and the hospital stay. The resource consumption was estimated using a cost analysis. (3) Results: Although CAD/CAM was a statistically more expensive procedure in the perioperative phase, no significant differences were observed in total health care costs between the two groups. There was a non-significant trend towards an increase in complications with conventional reconstruction plates compared to patient-specific plates (PSI). (4) Conclusions: CAD/CAM technology and a 3D printed cutting guide offer a significantly shorter surgical time, which is associated with a reduction in hospital days, PACU days, and complications. The cost of CAD/CAM technology is comparable to that of the conventional freehand technique.

The Impact of Healthcare-Associated Infections in Patients Undergoing Oncological Microvascular Head and Neck Reconstruction: A Prospective Multicentre Study.

(1) Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) after head and neck free-flap reconstruction are a common postoperative complication. Risk factors for HAIs in this context and their consequences have not been adequately described. (2) Methods: Ongoing prospective multicentre study between 02/2019 and 12/2020. Demographic characteristics and outcomes were analysed, focusing on infections. (3) Results: Forty out of 65 patients (61.54%) suffered HAIs (surgical site infection: 52.18%, nosocomial pneumonia: 23.20%, bloodstream infection: 13% and urinary tract infection: 5.80%). Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterobacter cloacae were the most frequently implicated. The significant risk factors for infection were: previous radiotherapy (Odds ratio (OR): 5.42; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.39-21.10), anaemia (OR: 8.00; 95% CI, 0.96-66.95), salvage surgery (eight out of eight patients), tracheostomy (OR: 2.86; 95% CI, 1.01-8.14), surgery duration (OR: 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00-1.02), microvascular reoperation <72 h (eight/eight) and flap loss (eight/eight). The major surgical complications were: a need to reoperate (OR: 6.89; 95% CI, 1.42-33.51), prolonged hospital admission (OR: 1.16; 95% CI, 1.06-1.27) and delay in the initiation of postoperative radiotherapy (OR: 9.07; 95% CI, 1.72-47.67). The sixth month mortality rate in patients with HAIs was 7.69% vs. 0% in patients without HAIs (p = 0.50). (4) Conclusions: HAIs were common after this type of surgery, many of them caused by resistant microorganisms. Some modifiable risk factors were identified. Infections played a role in cancer prognosis by delaying adjuvant therapy.

¿Cuál sería su tratamiento? / What would your treatment be?

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Hemangioma cavernoso frontal / Frontal cavernous hemangioma

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¿Cuál es su diagnóstico? / What would your diagnosis be

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The deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEAP) flap for total glossectomy reconstruction.

PURPOSE: Total or subtotal glossectomy following the resection of intraoral tumors causes significant morbidity. However, which reconstructive technique is the most successful remains controversial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: After approval by the Ethics Committee, charts were reviewed retrospectively for patients treated at the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, University Hospital La Paz (Madrid, Spain), during a 3-year period (2005-2008). All were reconstructed with a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEAP) flap after total glossectomy. Data collected included affiliation data, extent of extirpation, type of reconstruction, and surgical outcome, including donor-site morbidity, complications, and functional results. RESULTS: Seven patients (5 men, 71.4%; 2 women, 28.6%) with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue underwent total glossectomy and simultaneous microsurgical reconstruction with a DIEAP flap. In all cases, the flap was harvested with a fusiform shape oriented craniocaudally and limited to zone 1. The average size of the flap was 16.7 × 7.2 cm. Functional outcome related to swallowing was poor; 57.1% of the patients required a permanent gastrostomy. Speech was considered intelligible in 85.7% of cases by 2 independent observers. The surgical outcome was uneventful in most of the cases, with only 1 case of local dehiscence at the mouth floor. None of the cases developed abdominal wall dehiscence or an abdominal hernia at mid- or long-term follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The DIEAP flap is a reliable alternative for tongue reconstruction. It provides a large volume of soft tissue for transfer and is predictable and stable over time with low donor-site morbidity.