The Usefulness of Mandible CT Scanning in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Mandible Fracture

Shin, Han Kyung; Jung, Jae Hak; Kim, Young Hwan; Sun, Hook

Abstract

Mandible fractures, among facial injuries, cause severe pain and difficulties in masticating movement, moreover, it can also bring problems to social life. Accurate diagnosis and proper treatment for mandible fractures is needed to preserve mandibular function and to prevent malformation and complications. A history taking, a physical examination, a simple radiograph, and a conventional facial computed tommography are usually used to diagnose mandible fractures. However, these methods are not enough to understand the three dimensional structured mandible, the fractures-types, the relationship between inferior alveolar nerve and fractures. In the course of planning mandible operation, conventional facial computed tommography has wider section than mandible computed tommography, and horizontal & vertical mid-line division. Resultly, only poor information about inferior alveolar nerve could be achieved and no vertical imaging of mandible. Oppositely, mandible CT could get vertical imaging, and enough information, cause of getting 1mm-gap slice. In this study, we have compared image- information from mandible CT with from conventional facial CT about 28 patients(28/64 1 year-visit patients). Vertical images of mandible could not only help our pre- surgery diagnosis, but also result better post-surgery effect. Mandible enlarged fine-gap CT has used to examine mandible fractures in our hospital, and could be reported that makes operation plan and operation approach easier than conventional facial CT.