Long-term hard and soft tissue relapse rate after genioplasty

Purpose, The purpose of this study was to assess hard and soft tissue stabi lity 12 months after advancement genioplasty. Material and Methods, This is a retrospective study of 20 patients who unde rwent either advancement genioplasty alone (n = 11) or in combination with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy for mandibular advancement (n = 9). Late ral cephalometric radiographs were traced and immediate postoperative chang es and 12-month postoperative changes were defined. The relapse rate for th e pogonion, the soft tissue pogonion, and the soft tissue B point (Bs) were evaluated. The results were compared for combined mandibular advancement p lus genioplasty versus genioplasty alone. Relapse rates were also correlate d with the amount of advancement. All patients were treated with rigid inte rnal fixation. Results. After 12 months, the pogonion, the soft tissue pogonion, and the s oft tissue B point had a mean relapse rate of -0.38 mm, -1.2 mm, and -1.5 m m (negative value indicates a relapse, and a positive value indicates prola pse), respectively, which was not significant at probability values of .45, .069, and .054, respectively Relapse was not statistically related to the amount of advancement. There was no significant difference between the rela pse rate for genioplasty alone versus combined bilateral sagittal split ost eotomy and genioplasty, even with different amounts of advancement. Conclusions, Advancement genioplasty is an important and reliable technique for the esthetic treatment of the lower facial skeleton. The results indic ate that there is no significant relapse after genioplasty and bilateral sa gittal split osteotomy or genioplasty alone after 12 months when rigid inte rnal fixation is used. The changes were minimal and hard to detect clinical ly Genioplasty, with or without mandibular advancement, is a stable surgica l procedure when used in conjunction with rigid internal fixation.