Resorbable Implants in Maxillofacial Surgery: A Reality Check

Abstract

Background Stability is the main feature of fixation techniques in fracture management modalities, in vogue today.

Biodegradable versus titanium osteosynthesis in maxillofacial traumatology: a systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis

“…The included studies consisted of 7 publications of RCTs 2,14,33-37 , of which 4 were publications of a single RCT, each with a different FU 2,33,35,36 , 4 prospective cohort studies 11,13,38,39 , and 13 retrospective cohort studies 8,40,[49][50][51][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] . Low risk of bias was observed in the 'random sequence generation' domain in all but one of the included RCTs (Table 1).…”

“…Two studies declared funding from research programmes 34,51 and one from the armed forces 43 . Six studies did not mention funding or conflict of interest 11,14,[40][41][42]48 .…”

“…The most common types of fractures were mandibular, zygomatic and maxillary fractures. Ten studies solely included patients with mandibular fractures 8,11,13,14,34,38,42,46,47,49 , while six studies included patients with only zygomatic fractures 37,39,41,43,44,50 . The remaining studies included various types of fractures (e.g., Le Fort or orbital fractures) 2,33,35,36,40,45,48,51 .…”

“…The remaining studies included various types of fractures (e.g., Le Fort or orbital fractures) 2,33,35,36,40,45,48,51 . Comminuted fractures were excluded in 16 studies 13,14,43,44,46,47,50,[33][34][35][36]38,39,41,42 , while two studies did not exclude these type of fractures 8,45 . The remaining six studies did not report specific in-or exclusion criteria regarding comminuted fractures 11,37,40,48,49,51 .…”

“…The most commonly used titanium osteosynthesis systems were manufactured by KLS Martin 2,11,33,35,36,41 , Synthes 14,37,40,42,47 , and Stryker 13,43 . Twelve studies reported details regarding the size of the titanium plates and the screws 2,8,40,43,47,11,13,14,33,[35][36][37][38] . The screw diameter ranged from 1.3 to 2.0 mm with corresponding plates, depending on the location of the fracture.…”