Inferior Alveolar Nerve Lateralization and Transposition for Dental Implant Placement. Part II: a Systematic Review of Neurosensory Complications

Objectives

This article, the second in a two-part series, continues the discussion of inferior alveolar nerve lateralization/transposition for dental implant placement. The aim of this article is to review the scientific literature and clinical reports in order to analyse the neurosensory complications, risks and disadvantages of lateralization/transposition of the inferior alveolar nerve followed by implant placement in an edentulous atrophic posterior mandible.

Material and Methods

A comprehensive review of the current literature was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines by accessing the NCBI PubMed and PMC databases, as well as academic sites and books. The articles were searched from January 1997 to July 2014. Articles in English language, which included adult patients between 18 - 80 years of age who had minimal residual bone above the mandibular canal and had undergone inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) repositioning, with minimum 6 months of follow-up, were included.

Results

A total of 21 studies were included in this review. Ten were related to IAN transposition, 7 to IAN lateralization and 4 to both transposition and lateralization. The IAN neurosensory disturbance function was present in most patients (99.47% [376/378]) for 1 to 6 months. In total, 0.53% (2/378) of procedures the disturbances were permanent.

Conclusions

Inferior alveolar nerve repositioning is related to initial transient change in sensation in the majority of cases. The most popular causes of nerve damage are spatula-caused traction in the mucoperiosteal flap, pressure due to severe inflammation or retention of fluid around the nerve and subsequent development of transient ischemia, and mandibular body fracture.

Inferior alveolar nerve lateralization and transposition for dental implant placement. Part I: a systematic review of surgical techniques

Objectives

The purpose of this first part of a two-part series was to review the literature concerning the indications, contraindications, advantages, disadvantages and surgical techniques of the lateralization and transposition of the inferior alveolar nerve, followed by the placement of an implant in an edentulous atrophic posterior mandible.

Material and Methods

A comprehensive review of the current literature was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines by accessing the NCBI PubMed and PMC database, academic sites and books. The articles were searched from January 1997 to July 2014 and comprised English-language articles that included adult patients between 18 and 80 years old with minimal residual bone above the mandibular canal who had undergone inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) repositioning with a minimum 6 months of follow-up.

Results

A total of 16 studies were included in this review. Nine were related to IAN transposition, 4 to IAN lateralization and 3 to both transposition and lateralization. Implant treatment results and complications were presented.

Conclusions

Inferior alveolar nerve lateralization and transposition in combination with the installation of dental implants is sometimes the only possible procedure to help patients to obtain a fixed prosthesis, in edentulous atrophic posterior mandibles. With careful pre-operative surgical and prosthetic planning, imaging, and extremely precise surgical technique, this procedure can be successfully used for implant placement in edentulous posterior mandibular segments.

Inferior alveolar nerve injury after mandibular third molar extraction: a literature review

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to systematically review the comprehensive overview of literature data about injury to the inferior alveolar nerve after lower third molar extraction to discover the prevalence of injury, the risk factors, recovery rates, and alternative methods of treatment.

Material and Methods

Literature was selected through a search of PubMed electronic databases. Articles from January 2009 to June 2014 were searched. English language articles with a minimum of 6 months patient follow-up and injury analysis by patient’s reporting, radiographic, and neurosensory testing were selected.

Results

In total, 84 literature sources were reviewed, and 14 of the most relevant articles that are suitable to the criteria were selected. Articles were analyzed on men and women. The influence of lower third molar extraction (especially impacted) on the inferior alveolar nerve was clearly seen.

Conclusions

The incidence of injury to the inferior alveolar nerve after lower third molar extraction was about 0.35 - 8.4%. The injury of the inferior alveolar nerve can be predicted by various radiological signs. There are few risk factors that may increase the risk of injury to the nerve such as patients over the age of 24 years old, with horizontal impactions, and extraction by trainee surgeons. Recovery is preferable and permanent injury is very rare.

Inferior alveolar nerve injuries following implant placement - importance of early diagnosis and treatment: a systematic review

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this article is to systematically review diagnostic procedures and risk factors associated with inferior alveolar nerve injury following implant placement, to identify the time interval between inferior alveolar nerve injury and its diagnosis after surgical dental implant placement and compare between outcomes of early and delayed diagnosis and treatment given based on case series recorded throughout a period of 10 years.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed literature investigation through MEDLINE (PubMed) electronic database and manual search through dental journals to find articles concerning inferior alveolar nerve injury following implant placement. The search was restricted to English language articles published during the last 10 years, from December 2004 to March 2014.

RESULTS

In total, we found 33 articles related to the topic, of which 27 were excluded due to incompatibility with established inclusion criteria. Six articles were eventually chosen to be suitable. The studies presented diagnostic methods of inferior alveolar nerve sensory deficit, and we carried out an assessment of the proportion of patients diagnosed within different time intervals from the time the injury occurred.

CONCLUSIONS

Various diagnostic methods have been developed throughout the years for dealing with 1 quite frequent complication in the implantology field - inferior alveolar nerve injury. Concurrently, the importance of early diagnosis and treatment was proved repeatedly. According to the results of the data analysis, a relatively high percentage of the practitioners successfully accomplished this target and achieved good treatment outcomes.