title: Determination of lingual vascular canals in the interforaminal region before implant surgery to prevent life-threatening bleeding complications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Profuse hemorrhage and airway obstruction may occur during or after the implant surgery in the interforaminal region. The prevention from this complication requires identifying the location of the mandibular lingual vascular canals (MLVCs). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the anatomical variations of MLVCs and to determine the safety margins for implant placement in interforaminal region.
  
  
  METHODS
  Computer tomography (CT) images of 200 consecutive patients were reexamined retrospectively by a radiologist and a maxillofacial surgeon to evaluate the presence of the MLVCs entering the mandible. The diameter and the number of the canals, the distance between the entrance of the canal and mandibular midline, and the height of the entrances of the canals from the inferior mandibular margin were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred and thirty-six median lingual canals (MLCs) and 159 lateral lingual canals (LLCs) were found in 200 patients. Significant differences were found between the number of lingual canals in the midline and canine regions (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a potential risk of complications due to the injuries of the vessels entering the lingual cortical bone through a number of bone canals during implant placement in the interforaminal region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erdem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.forename: Selim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doganay
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ulu
authors.forename: Nükhet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Çelebi
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yikilmaz
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alkan
mesh_terms: D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D015921:Dental Implants; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants