Prospective clinical assessment of morbidity after chin bone harvest

The aim of this prospective research was to assess soft tissue morbidity in the symphyseal region after bone graft harvesting. Thirty patients, with average age 45 years, underwent symphyseal bone graft harvesting followed up for a period of 12 months. Follow-up involved neurosensory testing of 2-point discrimination, static light touch, brush directional stroke, pinprick, and thermal discrimination to cold and hot; the statistical analysis was performed using McNemar test and Friedman test with P < 0.05. The results showed that 50% of patients had postoperative morbidity in the first month after surgery showing statistical positive relation with surgery (P < 0.05); at 6 months, this situation diminished to 23%, and at the end of the monitoring period (1 year); the neurosensory tests revealed no persistent morbidity. In conclusion, all neurosensory tests revealed high morbidity in the first month with total resolutions at 1-year follow-up; however, this complication associated to surgery is indispensable to discharge the patient properly.