ABSTRACT
The aim of the study was to find out whether eliminating intraoperative intermaxillary fixation from the management of mandibular fractures has any bearing on treatment outcomes. A retrospective study was carried out on 53 mandibular fractures treated at Margalla Institute of Health Sciences and its affiliated hospitals from June 2010 to December 2014. Successful bone healing, occlusion and complications were assessed in mandibular fractures treated with open reduction and internal fixation and without the use of intraoperative intermaxillary fixation. Minor wound dehiscence was seen in 7 patients. 3 patients required hardware removal due to subsequent hardware failure; however no case of nonunion was seen. Clinically significant malocclusion [Moderate: Grade 2] was seen in only one patient after 3 months. There were negligible and comparable number of postoperative complications. It was concluded 'hand holding' of the mandibular fractures as an alternative to the more traditional IMF/MMF through various means, a reliable and predictable way of fixation of mandibular fractures
ABSTRACT
Many options are exercised to affect surgical management of oroantral fistulae. Postoperative wound dehiscence is not uncommon, and the surgical management of such fistulae often becomes increasingly difficult because of a lingering maxillary sinus infection. This was a retrospective study done on 23 patients in which a double layered technique, consisting of buccal fat pad in conjunction with buccal advancement flap was used for surgical closure of oroantral fistulae. Only 3 of the patients had had a failure of the closure. We recommend this technique because of its many advantages and low risk of complications