In-house 3D-printed surgical guides for osseous lesions of the lower jaw: an experimental study
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Published on: May 23, 2020
Lukas Postl1,2,3, Thomas Mücke4, Stefan Hunger5
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kepler University Hospital GmbH, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Krankenhausstr. 9, 4021, Linz, Austria. lukas.postl@lmu.de.
Background:
The accuracy of computer-assisted biopsies at the lower jaw was compared to the accuracy of freehand biopsies.
Methods:
Patients with a bony lesion of the lower jaw with an indication for biopsy were prospectively enrolled. Two customized bone models per patient were produced using a 3D printer. The models of the lower jaw were fitted into a phantom head model to simulate operation room conditions. Biopsies for the study group were taken by means of surgical guides and freehand biopsies were performed for the control group.
Results:
The deviation of the biopsy axes from the planning was significantly less when using templates. It turned out to be 1.3 ± 0.6 mm for the biopsies with a surgical guide and 3.9 ± 1.1 mm for the freehand biopsies.
Conclusions:
Surgical guides allow significantly higher accuracy of biopsies. The preliminary results are promising, but clinical evaluation is necessary.
