Detection of Inferior Alveolar Nerve Injury and Prediction of Sensory Recovery
Yabing Dong1,2,3, Yunbo Hao4, Yiwen Wang1,2,3
1Department of Oral Surgery, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, shsmu.edu.cn.
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury by using current perception threshold (CPT) detection, electrical pulp test (EPT), and two-point discrimination (2PD). This is a retrospective cohort study conducted to explore the prognostic value of the above three detection methods for sensory recovery of IAN injury.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 72 patients with unilateral IAN injury following mandibular third molar extraction were included in this retrospective cohort study. The visual analog scale (VAS), CPT, EPT, and 2PD tests were performed on patients, and the values on the healthy and affected sides of the three tests were compared and the correlation with prognosis was analyzed.
Results:
During the follow-up, 56 patients were classified into the recovery group, with an average recovery time of (3.7 ± 1.2) months and 16 patients were set as the non-recovery group. The differences in CPT, EPT, and 2PD between the healthy and affected sides of all patients were statistically significant (all p < 0.05). Among the data of the affected side of patients in recovery group and the non-recovery group, only the differences at 5 Hz of CPT and EPT were statistically significant (both p < 0.05).
Conclusion:
CPT, EPT, and 2PD can all evaluate whether there is IAN injury. The values measured at 5 Hz of CPT and posterior teeth EPT can evaluate the prognosis of nerve recovery, and the corresponding exploratory cut-off values (CPT Δ40, EPT Δ9) have good diagnostic performance for prognostic judgment.
