Comprehensive Treatment and Rehabilitation of Patients With Osteosarcoma of the Mandible.

OBJECTIVE: The article studies state-of-the art physical therapeutic techniques as a high degree of relevance to minimize invalidation and improve quality of life for patients with dental osteosarcoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in 21 patients with osteogenic sarcoma of mandible (C41.1). There were 10 patients in the experimental group and 11 patients in the control group.

RESULTS: A comprehensive treatment and rehabilitation program for patients with osteosarcoma of mandible was developed. The first part of the program comprised 3 basic phases: preop chemotherapy, surgery, and postop rehabilitation. The surgical treatment further included resection of an affected part of the mandible and primary repair of the defect with jaw fragments and an autoimplant joined together with the help of positioning devices. The postop rehabilitation included postop chemotherapy and mesodiencephalic modulation (MDM). The second part of the program comprised preop examination, modeling, using stereolytic 3-dimensional models of the mandible, corrective surgeries, including implantation into the autoimplant-a fragment of patient's fibula, and building of a removable titanium alloy-based denture. MDM sessions were administered after each invasive intervention.

CONCLUSIONS: Higher psychological and physical well-being was observed in the experimental group as compared with the control group (P < 0.01) in 2 weeks after the first surgery and 2 months after scheduled corrective surgeries, which finished in denture installation.