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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Comparative Study
Controversies in the management of neonatal micrognathia: to distract or not to distract, that is the question.
Symptomatic micrognathia, as seen in syndromic and isolated presentations of the Robin sequence (RS), can pose immediate an ongoing threats to the well-being of neonates. Upper airway obstruction can manifest as acute respiratory insufficiency requiring postpartum intubation and mechanical ventilation or as a mild irregularity in the oropharyngeal airflow that can be managed by positioning the newborn in a prone or decubitus position. Clinically significant micrognathia is often accompanied by some degree of feeding difficulty, obstructive sleep apnea, and gastroesophageal reflux disease, all of which should be evaluated by a multidisciplinary team of specialists before a definitive treatment plan is formulated. ⋯ Rather than serve as a panacea, however, the practice of neonatal mandibular distraction for infants with upper airway obstruction has probably given rise to more questions than it has answered. The debate over its most appropriate indication in the micrognathia patient is quite current. In this article, we consider some of the controversies surrounding the use of distraction compared with other techniques in the management of the neonatal airway.