Oral Health and Dental Management

Abstract

Non-invasive Determination of Bone Perfusion in Jaw Augmentation–A Pilot Study

Marcus Stoetzer, Björn Rahlf, Juliane Lemound, Thomas Derfuss, Constantin von See, Nils-Claudius Gellrich

Introduction: Autologous bone transplantation is a standard procedure in dentoalveolar surgery for filling bone defects prior to implant placement. Information about bone perfusion is essential in the assessment of bone donor and recipient sites. A valid assessment of tissue microcirculation is possible without applying an invasive technique. Until now, it has been impossible to measure bone perfusion as part of a non-invasive procedure. Materials and Methods: Bone perfusion was determined for two augmentation procedures, both during the procedure and three months later. In one case, the graft and the recipient site were measured (mental bone graft), in the other, measurements were taken only at the time of augmentation (pelvic bone graft). It was measure in 2mm depth the relative blood flow, the venous oxygen saturation of haemoglobin and the regional haemoglobin concentration Results: Flow, SO2 and rHb could be determined about the whole course of the intervention. Above all the comparison between the augmentation and the control after 3 months could occur. The values were consistent with the clinical situation and allowed an assessment of perfusion. Conclusion: The measurements taken on the two patients have shown that the probe is well suited to measure local circulation in bones. It was possible to measure bone perfusion at all times. The method can be declared safe and practicable. It was demonstrated that this non-invasive method of measuring bone perfusion provides reproducible data that offer information on the perfusion of the graft and the recipient site at any time during the procedure and thus provide a valid assessment of vitality.