Interexaminer reliability of two cephalometric methods to determine proximal segment position after bilateral...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the interexaminer reliability of two cephalometric methods for determining positional change of the proximal segment after a bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy (BSSRO) for mandibular advancement. The records of 25 patients were used in a double-blind trial. Two nontrained investigators (having read the articles describing the two cephalometric methods, but with no other special training) independently traced posterior-anterior (PA) and lateral cephalometric radiographs taken at three time intervals: (T1) before surgery, (T2) immediately after surgery, and (T3) after orthodontic treatment was completed. The level of agreement between the two investigators (interexaminer reliability) on all 25 patients was estimated by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The ICC was found to have a high value, indicating "substantial" to "almost perfect agreement" between the two examiners. Thus the results validate the use of these two methods to determine proximal segment positional changes in the frontal and sagittal planes of space after a BSSRO.