ASO Author Reflections: Accuracy of Maxillary and Mandibular Reconstruction Enhanced by Advances in Technology

Excerpt

Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) has become the mainstream treatment for maxillary and mandibular reconstruction, which includes preoperative virtual planning, intraoperative real surgery, and postoperative outcome verification. Various devices have been used to transfer virtual surgery to the operation theater, including surgical navigation, prototyped skull models, and cutting and positioning templates. Findings have shown that CAS can improve the efficiency and accuracy of maxillary and mandibular reconstruction.1 However, the missing link in accurate bone reconstruction is the plate fixation procedure.1‐3 Conventional off-the-shelf plates should be bent manually, which increases the complexity of surgery and hampers accurate replication of the virtual plan. To solve this problem, the authors have developed a complete workflow that incorporates three-dimensional (3D)-printed patient-specific surgical plates (PSSP) for CAS.4 A previous prospective pilot study showed that the feasibility of this workflow is 100%.5 However, whether PSSP can improve the accuracy of reconstruction is unclear. …