Intra-operative complications in sagittal and vertical ramus osteotomies

In orthognatic surgery of the mandibular ramus, intra-operative complications as a lesion of the inferior alveolar nerve, fractures of the osteotomised segments, incomplete sectioning, malpositioning of segments and haemorrhage may occur. In this report, intra-operative complications in 124 sagittal split osteotomies and 34 vertical ramus osteotomies, carried out in 80 patients, are described. The incidence of intra-operative complications in the sagittal split osteotomies was 25.8%. The complication occurring most frequently was incomplete sectioning (11.2%). This may be avoided by using the modified sagittal split technique. The incidence of complications in the vertical ramus osteotomies was 11.8%.