Clinical success of mandibular distraction for obstructive sleep apnea resulting from micrognathia in 10 consecutive Japanese young children

In recent years, obstructive sleep apnea has gained attention as one of the causes of sudden death in young children. There have been some reports, mainly from the United States and Europe, that mandibular distraction osteogenesis is effective as a treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome caused by micrognathia in young children. However, there has not been any report yet in Japan. In this study, we performed mandibular distraction osteogenesis using internal devices in 10 young children with obstructive sleep apnea. To enable distraction to be performed smoothly without any difficulties, we modified a surgical procedure by adding an osteotomy of the coronoid process to a vertical ramus osteotomy. Postoperative evaluations using cephalograms and polysomnography were performed, and great improvements were observed. As a result, all patients either avoided or were weaned from tracheostomy, and very good results were obtained similar to those in reports from the United States and Europe. We report our experience in Japan.