Comparison of miniplates and biodegradable plates in reconstruction of the mandible with a fibular free flap.

Miniplates and reconstruction plates are usually used to fix a fibular free flap, the gold standard in reconstruction of large segmental mandibular defects. Though biodegradable plates are used in orthognathic operations and repair of fractures nowadays, we know of no studies of the use of biodegradable plates in the reconstruction of segmental mandibular defects including a fibular free flap. We retrospectively reviewed 47 patients who had reconstruction of segmental mandibular defects with fibular free flaps during the past 10 years, and recorded clinical data and morbidity. We compared patients who had reconstruction of such defects with fibular free flaps and miniplates (n=26) with those in whom biodegradable plates had been used (n=21). There was no significant difference between miniplates and biodegradable plates with regard to overall complications (p=0.45) and failure of flaps (p=0.59). After confounding factors had been adjusted for with Cox's proportional hazards regression, there was no significant difference in the proportion of patients who developed a complication between the two groups (p=0.4). The type of plate does not seem to affect overall morbidity in reconstruction of the mandible with a fibular free flap.