ORBITAL FLOOR RECONSTRUCTION USING A THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING TECHNOLOGY IN DELAYED CASES.

Aim: Orbital floor fractures are one of the most common maxillofacial fractures. They account for 10-25% of the total facial bone fractures. Delayed cases are considered challenges in orbital floor fractures. The main obstacle is the difficulty of intraoperative assessment of the fracture defect size because of fibrous adhesions at the site of fractures. This may raise the risk of tissue injury and complications. In this study, we investigated the use of Three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology in the delayed cases of orbital floor fractures for proper preoperative assessment of fracture size and minimize postoperative complications.Patient and methods: This prospective study was conducted on 17 cases with delayed orbital floor fractures. All cases were delayed by more than one month, the authors applied the three-dimensional technique for all cases.Results: The study included 17 cases, 15 males and 2 females. The mean age of the included cases was 25.8 ± 7.3 SD years old. The average delay duration was 5.5 ± 3.7 SD months. Concha graft was used in 11 cases while 6 cases were managed by titanium mesh. Enophthalmos was improved in 13 cases postoperatively. Diplopia was improved in all operated cases.Conclusion: Using a three-dimensional rapid prototype skull module aids in the accurate preoperative assessment of orbital floor defects and contouring of titanium mesh and plates used in orbital fracture repair. Additionally, this shortens the duration of the operation, uses less general anesthetic, and involves less tissue handling and dissection during the procedure, all of which lead to fewer complications after the procedure.