The Journal of craniofacial surgery
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Comparative Study
Orbital stress analysis, Part IV: Use of a "stiffness-graded" biodegradable implants to repair orbital blow-out fracture.
The purpose of this study was to develop a finite element model (FEM) of a human orbit, of 1 patient, who had an orbital blow-out fracture, to study the effect of using a "stiffness-graded" (SG) biodegradable implant on the biomechanics of bone-fracture repair. ⋯ The use of SG implants induced significant changes in the stress patterns at the fracture interface and at the bone-implant interface. Stiffness-graded biodegradable implants offered less stress shielding to the bone, providing higher compressive stress at the fractured surface, to induce accelerated bone healing, as well as higher tensile stress in the intact portion of the bone. It seems that this is the first reported study, in the literature, on the use of SG biodegradable implants to repair and promote bone healing at the fracture site of the inferior orbital wall bone defect.
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Microvascular free tissue transfer (FTT) is an increasingly used method of reconstruction for traumatic defects of the head and neck. We describe the immediate management, FTT reconstruction techniques, and outcomes of 6 individuals who sustained maxillofacial gunshot trauma and were treated at a single tertiary-care level I trauma center. All 6 patients were white men with a mean age of 33 years. ⋯ Oral incompetence and poor cosmesis from undesirable scarring patterns were the most common long-term complications. In summary, successful reconstruction of head and neck defects caused by gunshot trauma begins with airway stabilization, wound management, and bony fracture reduction and fixation. Definitive microvascular FTT is a useful method of repairing traumatic head and neck defects, although long-term functional and cosmetic complications may still occur.