Effect of maxillary impaction on mandibular surgical accuracy in virtually-planned orthognathic surgery: A retrospective study.

Although surgical accuracy has been evaluated in bi-maxillary procedures, few studies have investigated the relationship between maxillary and mandibular accuracy. The present study evaluated the effect of maxillary impaction accuracy on mandibular surgical outcome. This cohort study analyzed skeletal class III patients who underwent planned maxillary impaction in bi-maxillary surgery. The primary predictor was the difference between the virtual plan and surgical outcome in the maxilla, as determined by three-dimensional (3D) and vertical differences. The secondary predictors were the planned 3D distances in the maxilla and mandible. The primary outcome was mandibular surgical accuracy, defined as the difference between the planned and actual outcomes, calculated as 3D Euclidean distance. The study included 73 patients. Increased differences between the planned and actual outcomes in the maxilla were associated with increased differences in the mandible. The post-operative position of the mandible was closer to the planned position when the position of the impacted maxilla was superior than when it was inferior to the planned position. Moving the maxilla closer to the planned position resulted in a more accurate mandibular position. These findings suggest that careful surgical procedures are needed to avoid inferior positioning of the maxilla during maxillary impaction surgery.