Double-way drainage device for cystic decompression: a technical note

Decompression is a conservative treatment approach, either definitive or adjuvant, to jaw cysts (of odontogenic and non-odontogenic origin). It relieves intracystic pressure, which allows size decrease of the pathology concomitant to bone neoformation. Several devices have been described with the purpose of decompressing a lesion, which attempted to fulfil ideal characteristics, but many have displayed disadvantages, such as the impossibility of use in edentulous patients, being prone to contamination, clinical discomfort, etc. Thus, the objective of this technical note is to present a new approach to cystic decompression, using a double-way device, made from two fragments of a no. 12 nasogastric tube, fixed to each other with a stainless-steel wire. The device can be anchored to the tooth or through a hole in the bone and is removed during the definitive surgical treatment of the lesion. Our device features low cost, simple manufacture and installation, a smooth and flexible surface that provides clinical comfort, and, being a double-lumen device, it allows simultaneous active irrigation and passive drainage during the treatment period.