1.The use of a single-piece bone flap for cranial reshaping in anterior craniosynostosis patients: clinical experience and a description of a novel technique
Hatan MORTADA ; Ikhlas ALTUAWIJRI ; Taghreed ALHUMSI
Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2022;44(1):2-
Background:
Craniosynostosis is known as premature closure of one or more of the cranial sutures. Anterior craniosynostosis involves anterior plagiocephaly and trigonocephaly. One of the issues in anterior craniosynostosis skull reshaping is maintaining an aesthetically pleasing forehead curve. Therefore, in this article, we demonstrate our novel technique to use a single-piece bone flap for cranial reshaping of the anterior mold in patients diagnosed with anterior craniosynostosis. A retrospective record review of patients who underwent single piece bone flap cranial reshaping for correction of unicoronal synostosis (UCS) and metopic synostosis (MS) at an Academic Institute in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between 2018 and 2020, was conducted.
Results:
Six non-syndromic consecutive patients were included. Three of the patients had MS. The mean age at surgery was 11.16 months (range, 6–19 months). The average OR time was 315 min (range, 263–368 min). The average intraoperative blood loss was 225 ml (range, 100–400 ml). All patients had achieved acceptable functional and aesthetic results.
Conclusion
Our novel technique is an innovative and efficient reconstructive technique to simultaneously address MS and UCS and minimize intraoperative bleeding and surgery time. However, more studies with more cases are required.
2.The management of perioperative pain in craniosynostosis repair: a systematic literature review of the current practices and guidelines for the future
Hatan MORTADA ; Raghad ALKHASHAN ; Nawaf ALHINDI ; Haifa B. ALWAILY ; Ghada A. ALSADHAN ; Saad ALROBAIEA ; Khalid ARAB
Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2022;44(1):33-
Background:
Craniosynostosis is a condition characterized by a premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures. The surgical repair of craniosynostosis causes significant pain for the child. A key focus of craniosynostosis repair is developing effective strategies to manage perioperative pain. This study aimed to review perioperative pain control strategies for craniosynostosis repair systematically.
Methods:
Guidelines for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses were used in the design of this review. In May 2022, the following databases were used to conduct the literature search: MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. A search was performed using MeSH terms “craniosynostosis,” “pain management,” and “cranioplasty.”
Results:
The literature review yielded 718 publications. After applying our inclusion criteria, 17 articles were included, accounting for a total of 893 patients. During the postoperative period, most studies used multimodal analgesia, primarily opioids, and acetaminophen. In the postoperative period, oral ibuprofen was the most commonly used NSAID, rectal codeine, and acetaminophen were the most commonly used weak opioids, and continuous remifentanil infusion was the most commonly used potent opioid.
Conclusion
The authors determined the best pain management options for pediatric patients undergoing cranioplasty by analyzing the most commonly used analgesics. A high-quality clinical trial comparing different types of analgesic combinations would be a valuable addition to the present literature.