What Researchers Did
Researchers reviewed past patient records to examine how well osseointegrated implants worked for restoring head and neck defects.
What They Found
They found high implant survival rates in non-irradiated areas, such as 82.6 percent in non-irradiated maxillectomy patients and 94.6 percent in mandibles reconstructed with fibula free flaps. For facial prostheses, six-year survival rates exceeded 95 percent for auricular sites and 87 percent for floor of nose sites. However, survival rates were much lower in irradiated bone, ranging from 63 percent in the maxilla down to 27 percent in the orbit.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Canadian patients needing prostheses for head and neck defects can generally expect good success with osseointegrated implants in healthy tissue. However, patients who have received radiation therapy for conditions like head and neck cancer may face significantly lower success rates for implants placed in previously irradiated bone. This highlights the challenges of restoring function and appearance in radiation-damaged tissue.
Canadian Relevance
This study covers conditions related to delayed radiation injury and osteoradionecrosis, which are Health Canada-recognized indications for hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Study Limitations
As a retrospective study, this research relies on existing patient data, which may have inherent biases and lacks the controlled environment of a prospective study.