Red-blue light irradiation in the prevention of surgical wound infection after mandibular distraction using internal distractors in hemifacial microsomia: A randomized trial.

BACKGROUND

Postoperative infection is a complication of mandibular distraction osteogenesis (DO) in patients with hemifacial microsomia (HFM). The risk of surgical wound infection in DO is reported to be high due to the long duration of the distraction process. Treatment during the perioperative period is critical in combating infection.

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of red-blue irradiation in the prevention of surgical wound infection after mandibular distraction.

METHODS

In our single-centered, randomized clinical study, 118 patients diagnosed with HFM who had undergone DO between April 2016 and April 2018 were included. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: the experimental group received red-blue irradiation treatment and the control group received white-light irradiation.

RESULTS

None of the infections occurring in this study resulted in serious complications. The postoperative infection rate during the 4 weeks after DO in the experimental group was 1.7%, whereas that in the control group was 13.6% (p = 0.016) (based on a modified NHSN wound infection criterion). The total social cost during the active period for the experimental group was 3386840 RMB, 5.12% higher than for the control group (3221882 RMB).

CONCLUSIONS

Red-blue irradiation is recommended as adjunctive therapy after mandibular distraction osteogeneis in HFM.