Supplemental maxillomandibular fixation with miniplate osteosynthesis-required or not?

Area of Science:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Trauma Surgery
• Orthognathic Surgery

Background:

• Mandible fractures are common injuries.
• Open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) is a standard treatment.
• The role of postoperative maxillomandibular fixation (MMF) is debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare outcomes of ORIF for mandible fractures with immediate mobilization versus 5 days of MMF.
• To determine if MMF offers an advantage in reducing complications.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 118 patients with 180 mandible fractures.
• Matched pairing of fractures treated with monocortical plating.
• Comparison between immediate release (group 2) and 5-day MMF (group 1).

Main Results:

• Complication rates were 17% with MMF and 14% without MMF (p > 0.05).
• No statistically significant outcome advantage was found for using MMF.
• Immediate mobilization showed comparable results to MMF.

Conclusions:

• ORIF with immediate release is a viable alternative to ORIF with MMF for isolated mandible fractures.
• Postoperative MMF does not appear to significantly improve outcomes for these fractures.