Abstract
Many techniques have been developed to evaluate facial swelling after maxillofacial surgeries. Patients who undergo surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME) develop facial edema more often than those who undergo minor oral surgeries. Reliable systems to assess soft tissue dimensions offer many advantages for documentation and treatment planning across surgical fields. (1) Background: The objective assessment of facial swelling is advantageous as it allows the evaluation of the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the reliabilities of linear measurement method and optical scanning for the objective assessment of facial swelling after SARME. (2) Methods: Sixteen (12 women and 4 men) patients were enrolled. Linear measurements between guide points and facial scans were obtained for the left and right sides preoperatively and 1, 2, and 5 days after SARME. Preoperative values were subtracted from each post-operative value and the differences were compared between the two measurement methods. (3) Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the right and left sides at any time point in the measurements with either method. (4) Conclusions: Recently, stereophotogrammetry has been considered the first choice method for evaluating facial swelling. Furthermore, we found a strong correlation between volumetric analysis and linear measurement at all time points and for both sides.
Highlights
Changes in the facial contour may result from craniofacial or orthognathic surgeries, inflammation, trauma, or ablative surgery
We found a strong correlation between volumetric analysis and linear measurement at all time points and for both sides
The study was planned in sixteen patients (4 men and 12 women) aged 18–24 years scheduled to undergo surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion (SARME) were enrolled in the study
Summary
Changes in the facial contour may result from craniofacial or orthognathic surgeries, inflammation, trauma, or ablative surgery. Evaluation of post-operative edema in the early period is important in terms of giving an idea about inflammation. In this case, the number of drugs that may have side effects such as NSAIA and methylprednisolone or dexamethasone, which should be used to remove or reduce inflammation-related swelling post-operatively, can be reduced. Mainly including contact measurement methods, have been used in the past 60 years to measure facial deformities of various types. The linear measurement (contact) method is inexpensive, simple, non-invasive, and can be performed with flexible rulers. It has a high applicability and can detect edema in tissues with high accuracy.
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