Digital localization of osteotomy position in prominent zygomatic arch

The study aimed at introducing a digital method of locating the osteotomy position of the zygomatic arch during surgery and analyze the accuracy of this method. Patients with a prominent zygomatic bone who underwent zygomatic arch osteotomy and reduction in the orthognathic surgery department of our hospital were selected. Preoperative and postoperative computed tomography (CT) data of the patients were imported into modeling and analysis software Mimics 23.0 in DICOM format to construct 3D models of the zygomatic bone and zygomatic arch region. The data were obtained by locating the simulated osteotomy position of the zygomatic arch before the surgery, applying the digitally modeled osteotomy position of the zygomatic arch during the surgery, and locating the actual osteotomy position of the zygomatic arch after the surgery. The accuracy of the experimental method was verified by matching the preoperative simulation data with the postoperative osteotomy data. A Wilcoxon rank sum test was performed to compare the 20 cases' osteotomy positions obtained by preoperative simulation with the actual postoperative position. There was no significant difference in zygomatic arch osteotomy position between the preoperative simulation and the real postoperative position (Z=-1.867, P=0.062). The digital method to locate the zygomatic arch osteotomy seems to show an acceptable accuracy to achieve the proper osteotomy position and, therefore, should adopted whenever appropriate.