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01-06-2021 | Review Article

Identification of anterior loop in different populations to avoid nerve injury during surgical procedures—a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Sunil Kumar Mishra, Rajvi Nahar, Reetika Gaddale, Ramesh Chowdhary

Published in: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery | Issue 2/2021

Abstract

Exact recognition of the anterior loop is very important to avert any injury to the neurovascular bundle during surgical procedures. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the prevalence and length of the anterior loop in different populations. A comprehensive search of Medline/Pubmed and Cochrane database was done. The focused question was the presence of anterior loop (including loop length) of the inferior alveolar nerve in mental foramen region in CBCT images of the various subjects. Articles related to the presence of anterior loop (including loop length) were only included. Initial literature search resulted in 3024 papers, after removing duplicate articles, 2821 articles were left. Two thousand seven hundred eighty-four articles were further excluded by the reviewers after screening the abstracts which resulted in 37 studies. Hand searching resulted in 2 additional papers. Seven full-text articles were excluded for not fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Finally, 32 articles were included in the review. Two thousand five hundred three subjects with anterior loop were found, which approximates 38% with 48.4% bilateral, 27.8% right side, and 23.8% left side. The loop distribution in males and females was also found to be different. There was highly significant (P < 0.001; I² = 98.81%) heterogeneity found in the included studies. Variations were found in the prevalence, length, gender, and side distribution of anterior loop in various populations. This systematic review highly recommends not relying on any average values and the clinician should compulsorily make use of imaging modalities available in each and every case, wherever surgical procedure is to be performed near mental foramen region.

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Title: Identification of anterior loop in different populations to avoid nerve injury during surgical procedures—a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Sunil Kumar Mishra
Rajvi Nahar
Reetika Gaddale
Ramesh Chowdhary
Publication date: 01-06-2021
Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in: Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery / Issue 2/2021
Print ISSN: 1865-1550
Electronic ISSN: 1865-1569
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10006-020-00915-x

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Identification of anterior loop in different populations to avoid nerve injury during surgical procedures—a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

At a glance: The STEP trials

Springer Medicine

Abstract

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