Cephalometric evaluation of skeletal stability and pharyngeal airway changes after mandibular setback surgery: Bioabsorbable versus titanium plate and screw fixation

Purpose: This study compared sequential changes in skeletal stability and the pharyngeal airway following mandibular setback surgery involving fixation with either a titanium or a bioabsorbable plate and screws. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight patients with mandibular prognathism undergoing bilateral sagittal split osteotomy by titanium or bioabsorbable fixation were randomly selected in this study. Lateral cephalometric analysis was conducted preoperatively and at 1 week, 3-6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Mandibular stability was assessed by examining horizontal (BX), vertical (BY), and angular measurements including the sella-nasion to point B angle and the mandibular plane angle (MPA). Pharyngeal airway changes were evaluated by analyzing the nasopharynx, uvula-pharynx, tongue-pharynx, and epiglottis-pharynx (EOP) distances. Mandibular and pharyngeal airway changes were examined sequentially. To evaluate postoperative changes within groups, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was employed, while the Mann-Whitney U test was used for between-group comparisons. Immediate postoperative changes in the airway were correlated to surgical movements using the Spearman rank test. Results: Significant changes in the MPA were observed in both the titanium and bioabsorbable groups at 3-6 months post-surgery, with significance persisting in the bioabsorbable group at 1 year postoperatively (2.29°±2.28°; P