Review of the Leclerc and Dautrey procedures for recurrent temporomandibular joint dislocation

The authors analyzed published articles regarding the zygomatic arch down-fracture procedure for recurrent dislocation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) .A total of 31 reports were found by reviewing the pub-med systems, including articles using the name with "Leclerc procedure" and "Dautrey procedure" . In theLeclerc group, only 3 articles performed a vertical osteotomy of the articular eminence, with the remaining 7 performing an oblique osteotomy similar to Dautrey procedure.All articles in the Dautrey group employed the oblique osteotomy faithfully to the original procedure.The surgical success rate in both groups gave similar results: 91% (31/34 cases) in the Leclerc group and 97% (124/128 cases) in the Dautrey group.Complications included loosening of a fixed plate (1 case) , joint clicking (7 cases) , and arthralgia (4 cases) in the Leclerc group.Additionally, the authors read in detail the original French reports published by Leclerc et al. and Dautrey et al. and compared these with recent articles using this down-fracture procedure.In conclusion, this procedure should be referred to as the "Dautrey procedure" in order to resolve the confusion of terminology.