| The Management of a Pediatric Condylar Fracture With Dynamic Elastic Therapy | |
| ,a ,a ,a b | |
aDivision of Plastic Surgery, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY; and bDepartment of Plastic Surgery, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio |
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Correspondence: Edward.Davidson@uhhospitals.org |
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| Keywords: mandibular fractures, condylar fractures, pediatric injuries, dynamic elastic therapy, guiding elastics |
CASE DESCRIPTION
An 8-year-old male patient presented after suffering blunt trauma to the left side of the face during a football game. On initial evaluation, the patient denied malocclusion or chin deviation. Computed tomography (CT) identified a displaced intracapsular left-sided mandibular condylar fracture (Fig 1), and conservative treatment was attempted. After 1 week, the patient developed malocclusion and chin deviation (5 mm) (Fig 2) and subsequently was started on a 3-phase protocol utilizing elastic therapy. Phase I used 6-oz ¾-inch “fixating elastics” (class II ipsilateral to injury, class I contralaterally) (figure-of-eight configuration) (Fig 3). In phase II, 6-oz ¼-inch “guiding elastics” were placed (class II ipsilaterally, class I contrala .......