title: Non-union of a preprosthetic Le Fort I osteotomy with freeze-dried bone as an interpositional graft.
abstract: A case of non-union of a preprosthetic Le Fort I osteotomy using freeze-dried bone as an interpositional graft in a 38 year old woman is presented. The principles of natural bone repair and the different causes of non-union of bone fragments are discussed. How long does nature need for successful ingrowth of connective and vascular tissue and for the resorption-replacement mechanism using freeze-dried bone to bridge an osteotomy gap? Successful treatment of the non-union consisted of curettage of the granulation tissue followed by autogenous cortico-cancellous bone grafting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillo-Facial Surgery, General Hospital St-John, Bruges.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: De Backer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Neyt
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Clercq
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mommaerts
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Abeloos
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Van Butsele
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000503:physiopathology; D016025:Bone Transplantation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008437:Maxilla / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000601:surgery*; D013516:Oral Surgical Procedures, Preprosthetic / Q000379:methods; D016348:Osseointegration; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011859:Radiography; D012086:Reoperation; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous