Surgical Management of Laterognathia in Orthofacial Surgery

Each year around the world, various surgical procedures are carried out with the goal of correcting laterognathia; both the intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy (IVRO) and bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy (OSB) have been the most used techniques in mandibular surgery. These techniques have advantages and disadvantages; for example the advantages of the OSB include: increased coefficient of friction between bony segments, for both the forward and the retroposition, as well as decrease in the time of intermaxillary fixation (IMF). Disadvantages include injury to the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN), hemorrhage, bad split, among others. The advantages of IVRO include decrease of possibility of injury to the IAN, ease of implementation of the technique, a lower incidence of hemorrhage and the short duration of the surgical procedure. Their disadvantages include: lower coefficient of friction between bony segments, requires a relatively long period of IMF. The combination between the techniques of mandibular osteotomy for the correction of minor 10 mm laterognathia is the ideal treatment, since it avoids potential recurrence.

We describe two cases of patients with laterognathia greater than 6 mm associated with maxilla deformity, which were treated with combined osteotomies. At Maxillofacial Surgery Service, Specialty Hospital, National Medical Center XXI Century, we describe the advantages and disadvantages, pre and postoperative nosocomial, by comparing them with the reports of the literature.

The combination of techniques in the correction of laterognathias greater than 4 mm (smaller than 10 mm) is the ideal treatment, eliminating problems of articular compression, recurrence and damage to the alveolar nerve.