Comparison Between Internal and External Distractors in Osteogenesis

Distraction osteogenesis is a powerful technique for creating new bone during significant lengthening of the mandible without the need for bone grafting and associated donor site morbidity. The idea of distraction osteogenesis was largely abandoned by many until the 1950s. Ilizarov minimized complications by performing a corticotomy with minimal disruption of the surrounding blood supply and using a system of tension ring fixators to control the distraction in multiple planes. Through a series of experimental studies and clinical applications, Ilizarov established the foundation of distraction osteogenesis and its role in orthopedic management. Applications in craniofacial surgery were first seen in 1973, when Synder et al applied the approach to mandibular lengthening in a canine animal model. Almost another 20 years passed before McCarthy and colleagues published, in 1992, the first report of mandibular lengthening in 4 children with congenital mandibular deficiency, 3 with hemifacial microsomia, and 1 with Nager syndrome. Thereafter, its role rapidly expanded to the midface and nearly all classic approaches to craniofacial reconstruction. In general, mandibular distraction can be performed in the ramus for ramus lengthening, in the mandibular angle for downward and forward advancement, or in the mandibular body. Ramus or gonial angle distraction are mainly used to treat facial asymmetries as in hemifacial macrosomia. Severe mandibular retrognathia can be classified as congenital or acquired. Congenital abnormalities that are associated with severe mandibular retrognathia or micrognathia include craniofacial syndromes such as hemifacial microsomia, Pierre-Robin syndrome, Treacher-Collins syndrome, and Nager syndrome. Adult patients with craniofacial syndromes may have undergone previous surgery at an earlier age, but unfavorable postsurgical growth or skeletal relapse may have occurred. Severe mandibular retrognathia also can develop following maxillofacial t