Non-free osteoplasty of the mandible in maxillofacial gunshot wounds: mandibular reconstruction by compression-osteodistraction.

We have treated 33 young men with medium to large (3-8 cm) bony and soft tissue defects of the lower third of the face caused by gunshot wounds. After debridement, collapsing the proximal segments for primary approximation of soft and hard tissues and a closed osteotomy of a small fragment of mandible, we used an original compression-distraction device, designed in 1982 and tested during 1983 (analogous devices were absent at that time) to reposition the mandible and cause callus to form (during distraction) between the fragment and to use the remaining stumps of bone to fill in the defect. The soft tissues were repaired at the same time. Twenty-eight of the patients presented within a few hours of injury, and the remaining five had old injuries. The only complications were in the group with old injuries where four patients developed abscesses that required drainage, but these did not interfere with the process of osteogenesis. All 33 patients had good functional and aesthetic results within 3-4.5 months. The method allows a bloodless minimally traumatic procedure which can be carried out in one stage. The results compare very favourably with the classic methods of the treatment of mandibular gunshot injuries.