Is there a difference in surgical accuracy following bimaxillary surgery between cleft and non-cleft patients?

OBJECTIVES: To assess the surgical accuracy of 3D virtually planned orthognathic surgery among patients with and without cleft.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included cleft and non-cleft patients with class III malocclusion who underwent bimaxillary surgery. CBCT scans were acquired before and immediately after surgery. 3D virtual surgical planning (VSP) was performed using CBCT and digitalized dentition data. All orthognathic surgeries were performed by the same surgeons using interocclusal splints. The primary outcome variable was surgical accuracy, defined as the difference between the planned and surgically achieved maxillary movements, quantified in six degrees of freedom. Analysis of covariance was used to test for intergroup differences in surgical accuracy after correcting for differences in the magnitude of planned surgical maxillary movements.

RESULTS: Twenty-eight cleft and 33 non-cleft patients were enrolled, with mean ages of 18.5 and 25.4 years, respectively (P=0.01). No significant gender difference was present between the groups (P=0.10). After adjustment for small differences in surgical movements, no significant differences in surgical accuracy were observed between cleft and non-cleft patients.

CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that high surgical accuracy in maxillary movements can be achieved in both cleft and non-cleft patients using VSP and interocclusal splints.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Orthognathic cases with cleft can be performed with 3D VSP to obtain a satisfactory surgical accuracy.