A Treatment Protocol for Fractures of the Edentulous Mandible

Publication date: October 2018

Source: Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Volume 76, Issue 10

Author(s): Enkh-Orchlon Batbayar, Ruud R.M. Bos, Baucke van Minnen

Purpose

The incidence of fractures of edentulous mandibles is relatively low. Knowledge about the management of these fractured edentulous mandibles relies heavily on case reports and observational studies. On the basis of the current literature, we compiled a treatment protocol for fractures of the edentulous mandible and hypothesized that this protocol would result in fewer complications.

Patients and Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of edentulous patients with mandibular fractures. The predictor variable was the fulfillment of the treatment protocol (yes or no). The outcome variables were postoperative complications and reoperations. Patient demographic characteristics were collected from patient records. The χ² test was used for statistical analysis between predictor and outcome variables.

Results

Of 61 edentulous mandibular fractures (36 patients), 53 were treated according to the protocol and 8 were not. We observed 4 complications in the first group (complication rate, 7.5% [4 of 53]) and 4 in the second group (complication rate, 50% [4 of 8]). The fracture treatments that followed the protocol had a significantly lower postoperative complication rate (P = .001; odds ratio, 0.082) and needed fewer reoperations (P = .0001; odds ratio, 0.019) compared with the treatments that did not follow the protocol.

Conclusions

The results of this study show that following the compiled treatment protocol for fractures of edentulous mandibles significantly reduces postoperative complications and reoperations.

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