A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis on the use of autologous cartilage in the repair of orbital fractures.

INTRODUCTION: Fractures of the orbit are common injuries within the maxillofacial skeleton, and can often result in restrictions to ocular movement, diplopia, and enophthalmous if herniation of globe content occurs. Various studies have demonstrated the use of autologous cartilage grafts in the reconstruction of orbital fractures.

METHODS: A systematic review protocol was registered with PROSPERO, and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting for Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Comprehensive electronic search strategies of four databases were developed. Studies were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria by two independent reviewers.

RESULTS: Seven thousand one hundred seventy-one articles were identified following a comprehensive literature search. These articles were filtered for relevance and duplication, which reduced the number of articles to 16. A total of 259 patients underwent orbital reconstruction with the use of autologous cartilage. Conchal cartilage was harvested in 148 patients, auricular cartilage in 22 patients, nasoseptal cartilage in 72 patients, and costal cartilage in 17 patients. Thirty, seven, twelve, and four complications were observed in patients where cartilage was harvested from the concha, auricle, nasoseptum and rib, respectively. Most common complications included diplopia ( n =23), infra-orbital para/anaesthesia ( n =27), and enophthalmos ( n =7). No failure of graft or donor site morbidity were observed in the studies.

CONCLUSION: Autogenous materials such as cartilage can be used as an alternative for orbital reconstruction. Cartilage was considered by the authors to provide adequate structural support to the orbital contents, and that it was easy to harvest, shape, and position.