[Value of the surgical treatment of subcondylar fractures. Apropos of a comparative study of 24 cases of luxation-fractures treated by to-and-fro osteosynthesis or by active protrusive mobilization].

Regarding the bad results of the orthopaedic treatment of subcondylar dislocated mandibular fractures, the authors present a comparative study of two series of twelve patients: one (group "A") with orthopaedic treatment; the other one (group "B") with surgical treatment by "up and down" pinning via a temporal approach. The results of surgical treatment seem to be better than those of orthopaedic treatment, as it can be seen in some other papers. The choice of the surgical technique of osteosynthesis and the indications are then discussed. It seems to be necessary to improve the specific instrumentation for wider indications an better results.