What is craniofacial reconstruction?

summary

Craniofacial reconstruction can be divided into trauma, tumor and congenital craniofacial malformation. In adults, the former two items are mostly, but children are mainly congenital craniofacial malformations. Therefore, this paper focuses on the correction and reconstruction of congenital craniofacial malformations in children.

What is craniofacial reconstruction?

The disease introduces that there are cranial sutures in the skull of infants, which are responsible for the growth of the skull. Normally, the skull is closed before two years old. If it is closed too early, the growth of the skull will be limited, resulting in strange head types, such as boat shaped head, front flat head, and even limiting the development of the brain. Another group of patients will also have symptoms such as eye protrusion, midface retraction, malocclusion and dyspnea, which are collectively referred to as craniofacial dysplasia syndrome. The common symptoms are Aberdeen's syndrome and krusson's syndrome. This kind of patients are often accompanied by other limb or organ problems, such as asper's syndrome, with severe hand and foot syndactyly.

The goal of surgical treatment is to expand the cranial cavity and correct the craniofacial appearance. The time of operation was about 1 year old to deal with the skull deformity, 5 to 7 years old to deal with the facial bone and orbital problems. If you have occlusal problems, you need orthodontic surgery in adulthood and orthodontic treatment before. If the symptoms of brain compression are found in infancy, craniotomy should be performed immediately regardless of age.

In some cases, the face is accompanied by the ear. Before the reconstruction of the ear, the contour of the ear cartilage was carved with autogenous ribs and implanted into the temporal scalp. After a few months, the ear was erected and the skin was grafted behind the ear to form a new ear. Now there are also artificial cartilage methods to choose from.

matters needing attention

The treatment of congenital craniofacial malformation is a long-term and staged treatment. Each stage has different tasks and requires the participation of experts with different expertise. These members include plastic and neurosurgeons, speech therapists, orthodontists, otolaryngologists, ophthalmologists, pediatrics, genetic medicine, rehabilitation, dentistry, and psychologists and social workers. Only a perfect medical team can provide comprehensive life-long medical services for such patients.