Effect of facial sensory re-training on sensory thresholds.
Nearly 100% of patients experience trauma to the trigeminal nerve during orthognathic surgery, impairing sensation and sensory function on the face. In a recent randomized clinical trial, people who performed sensory re-training exercises reported less difficulty related to residual numbness and decreased lip sensitivity than those who performed standard opening exercises only. We hypothesized that re-training reduces the impaired performance on neurosensory tests of tactile function that is commonly observed post-surgically. We analyzed thresholds for contact detection, two-point discrimination, and two-point perception, obtained during the clinical trial before and at 1, 3, and 6 months after surgery, to assess tactile detection and discriminative sensitivities, and subjective interpretation of tactile stimulation, respectively. Post-surgery, the retrained persons exhibited less impairment, on average, than non-retrained persons only in two-point perception (P < 0.025), suggesting that retrained persons experienced or interpreted the tactile stimuli differently than did non-retrained persons.
Essick
G K
GK
Department of Prosthodontics, Center for Neurosensory Disorders, School of Dentistry, 2110 Old Dental Building, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7450, USA. greg_essick@dentistry.unc.edu
Phillips
C
C
Zuniga
J
J
D000328:Adult; D002680:Chin / Q000601:surgery; D004056:Differential Threshold / Q000502:physiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005145:Face / Q000294:innervation*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006987:Hypesthesia / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008046:Lip / Q000294:innervation; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000601:surgery; D008437:Maxilla / Q000601:surgery; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000009:adverse effects; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000534:rehabilitation; D012678:Sensation Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*