Bilateral pediatric mandibular distraction for micrognathia with temporomandibular joint ankylosis and sleep apnea.

Mandibular retrognathism is one of the important contributing anatomical factors to the obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Such patients suffer from number of apneic or hypopneic events during sleep such as snoring, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, inability to concentrate, and irritability. Distraction osteogenesis is a less invasive surgical technique in the management of OSA by correcting the reduced airway space. Apart from correcting functional disturbances due to OSA, it also corrects the facial profile resulting in the substantial improvement in cosmetic appearance. We report a case of a 3-year-old boy who was struggling with severe retrognathic chin and OSA causing hypopneic episodes and snoring. He was successfully treated by bilateral mandibular distraction which resulted in significant improvement of respiratory distress and feeding as well as evidential advancement of the mandible was achieved.