Clinical and radiographic outcomes of rhomboid plate in management of subcondylar fractures: prospective randomized controlled trial

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University

2 Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospital, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical and radiological outcomes of treatment of mandibular
subcondylar fractures using three-dimensional rhombus plates versus two miniplates techniques.
Patients and Methods: A total of 20 patients having subcondylar fractures indicated for open reduction and plate fixation
were recruited from Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospital and Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University, and randomly
divided into two equal groups. Study group was treated using three-dimensional rhombus plates, and the control group
was treated using two miniplates (2.0): one parallel to posterior border of the mandible and the other parallel to sigmoid
notch. The clinical and radiological outcomes of the treatment such as bone fixation stability, occlusion, mandibular
movements, time of fixation, and cost of hardware were assessed and statistically analyzed.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in all comparisons except time of
fixation and cost of hardware, as three-dimensional rhombus plates were more costly and time saving.
Conclusion: Three-dimensional rhombus plate has clinical and radiographic outcomes comparable to two miniplates,
offering less operative time, with strong recommendation for high subcondylar fracture.

Keywords