title: Mandibular distraction osteogenesis used to treat upper airway obstruction.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether mandibular distraction osteogenesis relieves tongue-based airway obstruction in patients with severe micrognathia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective medical review spanning a 7-year period in a tertiary care hospital. The inclusion criterion was defined as micrognathia associated with a severe tongue-based obstruction. The patients included 11 neonates and infants (mean age, 4.3 months) and 2 pediatric patients (mean age, 5.4 years). Two patients had already received tracheotomies, 11 had not. The intervention was bilateral mandibular osteotomies with distraction osteogenesis. The outcome measures were avoidance of tracheotomy and decannulation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten of 11 patients avoided tracheotomy. Two of 2 patients who had already undergone tracheotomies were successfully decannulated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mandibular distraction osteogenesis is an acceptable treatment alternative to tracheotomy in select pediatric patients with micrognathia and severe tongue-based obstruction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA. cwsender@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Craig W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Senders
authors.forename: Christopher Kevin
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Kolstad
authors.forename: Travis T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tollefson
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sykes
mesh_terms: D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000628:therapy*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000601:surgery*; D019857:Osteogenesis, Distraction / Q000379:methods*; D010027:Osteotomy; D012189:Retrospective Studies