Assessment of the results of mandibular fractures sugrical titanium miniplates treatment on the basis of computer-aided analysis of pantomographical radiograms

At present, in mandibular fractures surgical treatment reposition and titanium miniplates osteosynthesis is the most common method used. The treatment results are assessed on the basis of comparative analysis of two radiograms taken before and after fixations of fractures. In this article the objective method of radiological assessment of osteosynthesis is presented. The crucial part of the method is the computer program which was created at The Institute of Computer Biomedical Systems, Silesian University in Katowice. Comparison of placement of bone fragments on a pair of pantomograms taken before and after a particular surgical operation was done. To make the process of the results evaluation an objective one a new parameter - the relative dislocation coefficient - was implemented. Achieved results enable to assess correctness of bone fracture reposition on the pantomographical pictures taken twice, once before and the next time after osteosynthesis.