Patient-Reported Healing of Static Computer-Assisted Sinus Lateral Window Osteotomy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Area of Science:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Dental Implantology
• Surgical Innovation

Background:

• Sinus floor augmentation is crucial for dental implant success in the posterior maxilla.
• Conventional freehand sinus floor augmentation (SFA) is a widely used technique.
• Advancements in surgical navigation aim to improve precision and efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare patient-reported healing outcomes between static computer-assisted sinus floor augmentation (SCA-SFA) and conventional freehand SFA.
• To evaluate intraoperative and postoperative complications associated with both techniques.
• To assess the impact of SCA-SFA on surgical duration.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 40 patients undergoing lateral sinus augmentation (20 freehand-SFA, 20 SCA-SFA).
• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) assessed using Visual Analog Scale (VAS) on days 1-7 and 14.
• Complications, operation time, and operator efficacy were recorded and statistically analyzed using independent t-tests and Chi-square exact tests.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in PROMs or overall complications between SCA-SFA and freehand-SFA groups.
• SCA-SFA group experienced higher swelling on postoperative day 2 (p=0.04).
• SCA-SFA significantly reduced osteotomy time (11.43 min vs 18.56 min, p=0.022) and total surgery duration (56.24 min vs 69.89 min, p=0.023).

Conclusions:

• SCA-SFA is a viable alternative to freehand-SFA, particularly when surgical time reduction is a priority.
• The choice between techniques may depend on cost-benefit analysis and the need for minimal invasiveness.
• Further refinement of surgical guide design for SCA-SFA is recommended to minimize invasiveness.