Short-Segment Drilling Guides for the Management Comminuted Mandibular Fractures.

Treatment of a severely comminuted mandibular fracture is challenging. This technical note describes a novel office-based workflow, combining virtual surgery planning with short-segment drilling guides. The authors reduced the comminuted mandibular fractures via virtual surgery planning. Then, the reconstructed mandible model was printed using an in-house 3D printer. Next, the reconstruction plate was preformed according to the shape of the mandibular model surface, and the position of the screw hole in the mandibular surface was determined. Finally, hand-made short-segment drilling guides for screw position transfer were fabricated with temporary resin. During the operation, the authors reset the guides for the drill to make screw holes as planned. After the hole was drilled, the pre-bent plate was applied to the mandible. The fracture was expected to be reduced, when tightening the screws. in our workflow, by using short and simple operative procedures, the authors were able to achieve precise reduction and reduce the operation time.