Miniplate osteosynthesis and cellular phone create disturbance of infraorbital nerve

A 37-year-old man with a zygomatic fracture underwent surgical treatment with reduction of the fracture and osteosynthesis with a miniplate on the infraorbital rim. Postoperatively, he had numbness in the distribution area of the infraorbital nerve, but he also suffered from dysesthesia in the same area during periods when he was using his hand-held mobile phone. After surgical removal of the osteosynthesis plate, the dysesthesia associated with his mobile phone was no longer present. The plate was examined in a setup where we measured the electric current that developed on the surface of the plate under the influence of the magnetic field between the phone antenna and the metal plate. The highest currents measured on the actual plate were 141 mV in air, and 21 mV in saline. These findings indicate that there might have been a correlation between the presence of the miniplate close to the infraorbital nerve, and the dysesthesia experienced by the patient, under the influence of the energy emitted from the cellular phone.