ABSTRACT
Introduction
Autogenous bone grafting is the standard treatment for alveolar bone defects. However, morbidity in the donor area after the bone graft has been obtained continues to be a significant problem in cleft patients. This prospective randomized study compared donor area pain associated with the use of 2 bone extractors in patients with cleft lip and palate, who underwent treatment of alveolar bone defects using a bone graft obtained from the iliac crest.
Method
Thirty-six patients with cleft lip and palate underwent alveolar bone defect repair using a graft from the iliac crest, harvested with either a SOBRAPAR bone extractor (group A) or UCLA bone extractor (group B). Donor area pain was evaluated in the postoperative period with the aid of a unidimensional numerical pain scale (0, “no pain”; 10, “worst pain imaginable”).
Results
Comparison of the mean donor area pain score did not reveal any significant differences (p >0.05 for all comparisons) between the groups A and B, at any of the postoperative times evaluated. A significantly higher number of patients in group B reported no pain in the donor area, compared with group A (p <0.05).
Conclusions
This study showed that a significantly greater number of patients in group B reported “no pain”, compared with patients in group A; with regard to patients who reported any level of pain greater than zero, there were no between-group differences.
Keywords:
Donor area; Iliac crest; Pain; Alveolar bone graft; Bone extractors; Cleft lip and palate