Comparison of Efficacy and Safety of Hybrid Arch Bar with Erich Arch Bar in the Management of Mandibular Fractures: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Study Design: A clinical randomized control trial. Objective: To compare the efficacy and safety of Hybrid arch bar (HAB) with Erich arch bar (EAB) in fracture management of the mandible. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 44 patients were divided into 2 groups:- Group 1, N = 23 (EAB group) and Group 2, N = 21 (HAB group). The primary outcome was time taken for the application of arch bar, while the inner and outer glove puncture, operator prick, oral hygiene, arch bar stability, complications of HAB, and cost comparison were secondary outcomes. Results: The time taken for the application of arch bar in group 2 was significantly shorter than group 1 (55.66 ± 17.869 min vs 82.04 ± 12.197 min) and the frequency of outer glove puncture was also significantly lesser for group 2 (0 punctures vs 9 punctures). Better oral hygiene was found in group 2. EAB was cost-effective than HAB (Rs 700 ± 239.79 vs Rs 1742.50 ± 257.14). The stability of the arch bar was comparable in both groups. Group 2 had associated complications of root injury in 2 out of 252 screws placed and the screw head got covered by soft tissue in 137 out of 252 screws placed. Conclusions: Thus, HAB was better than EAB with a shorter time of application, less risk of prick injury, and improved oral hygiene.Clinical trial registry name- clinical trials registry- India, URL-http://ctri.nic.in, registration number- CTRI/2020/06/025966.

Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma of the mandible: A rare tumour of childhood.

Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma is a rare and indolent tumour of soft tissue. This tumour is relatively common in the head and neck region followed by extremities. Primary low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma of the mandible is very rarely reported and the occurrence of this tumour in a child is very unusual. A 7-year-old male child presented with a swelling in right angle of mandible. X-ray and computed tomography scan showed a lytic lesion. The lesion was excised and the tissue was sent for histopathological evaluation, which revealed a cellular spindle cell neoplasm arranged in fascicles. The tumour was partly circumscribed and lobulated. On immunohistochemistry (IHC), these tumour cells showed cytoplasmic positivity for vimentin, and smooth muscle actin showed 'tram-track' pattern of positivity. The case was diagnosed as low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma. There are no definite clinical features or pathognomonic radiological appearances of this tumour that can differentiate this rare tumour from other commonly encountered gnathic bone tumours, such as osteosarcoma, inflammatory myofibroblastic tumour, etc., Histopathological diagnosis coupled with ancillary investigations such as IHC is important to establish a definite diagnosis and rule out the differentials. The exact biological behaviour of this tumour is not known.