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Patients with pharyngodynia and neck pain symptoms can lead to an extensive differential diagnosis. Eagle's syndrome must be taken in account. Eagle defined “stylalgia” as an autonomous entity related to abnormal length of the styloid process or to mineralization of the stylohyoid ligament complex. The stylohyoid complex derives from Reichert's cartilage of the second branchial arch. The styloyd process is an elongated conical projection of the temporal bone that lies anteriorly to the mastoid process. The incidence of Eagle's syndrome varies among population. Usually asymptomatic, it occurs in adult patients. It is characterized by pharyngodynia localized in the tonsillar fossa and sometimes accompanied by disphagia, odynophagia, foreign body sensation, and temporary voice changes. In some cases, the stylohyoid apparatus compresses the internal and/or the external carotid arteries and their perivascular sympathetic fibers, resulting in a persistent pain irradiating in the carotid territory. The pathogenesis of the syndrome is still under discussion.

BackgroundFunctional and aesthetic mandibular reconstruction after ablative tumor surgery continues to be a challenge even after the introduction of microvascular bone transfer. Complex microvascular reconstruction of the resection site requires accurate preoperative planning. In the recent past, bone graft and fixation plates had to be reshaped during the operation by trial and error, often a time-consuming procedure. This paper outlines the possibilities and advantages of the clinical application of anatomical facsimile models in the preoperative planning of complex mandibular reconstructions after tumor resections.MethodsFrom 2003 to 2005, in the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery of the University of Udine, a protocol was applied with the preoperative realization of stereolithographic models for all the patients who underwent mandibular reconstruction with microvascular flaps. 24 stereolithographic models were realized prior to surgery before emimandibulectomy or segmental mandibulectomy. The titanium plates to be used for fixation were chosen and bent on the model preoperatively. The geometrical information of the virtual mandibular resections and of the stereolithographic models were used to choose the ideal flap and to contour the flap into an ideal neomandible when it was still pedicled before harvesting.ResultsGood functional and aesthetic results were achieved. The surgical time was decreased on average by about 1.5 hours compared to the same surgical kind of procedures performed, in the same institution by the same surgical team, without the aforesaid protocol of planning.ConclusionProducing virtual and stereolithographic models, and using them for preoperative planning substantially reduces operative time and difficulty of the operation during microvascular reconstruction of the mandible.