Aim. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the healing morphology of condylar fractures after closed treatment using 3D CT. Materials and methods. A retrospective study was conducted on 15 patients with condylar fractures who visited the Department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, Governmental Dental College Srinagar. All fractures were displaced; the angle between 10° and 45° and the ascending ramus was shortened by more than 2 mm but less than 15 mm. All patients were treated by MMF using arch bar and elastics for 04 weeks, and 3D CT was done one year after the treatment to evaluate the healing morphology. Results and disscusion. Out of the 15 patients, 11 were males and 4 were females, the mean age at the time of injury being of 33.7 years. The etiology of fractures included road traffic accidents (46.7%), fall (20%) and assault (33.3%). Out of the total number of 15, 9 (60%) fractures healed in L-shaped pattern and 6 (40%) fractures were healed in a spherical pattern, of which 4 patients with spherical pattern had post operative mandibular deviation towards fracture side (66.67%), while only 3 patients with L-shaped pattern showed mandibular deviation on opening (33.33%). In all cases, the deviation was towards the fractured side. Conclusions. The present results suggest that 3D evaluation may predict to a certain extent the morphology of the condylar process after healing, according to the fracture pattern at the time of injury. Further studies are needed to elucidate the association between functional impairments after healing and the fracture pattern at the time of injury.
Keywords:- closed treatment
- healing morphology
- spherical & L pattern.