Split cranial bone grafting in children younger than 3 years old: debunking a surgical myth.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In cranioplasty patients split cranial bone provides excellent structural support and fundamentally "replaces like with like." However, traditional teaching in craniofacial surgery is that cranial bone cannot be split before the age of 3 years because of the lack of diploic space. The authors have found this not to be the case and describe their experience with splitting cranial bone in children with craniosynostosis younger than 3 years.

Methods

The authors completed a retrospective review of 418 cranioplasties performed between 1997 and 2013 by a single surgeon on patients younger than 3 years with syndromic and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis. Average patient age at the time of the procedure was 328 days. The youngest patient was 58 days old.

Results

Of th

SUBMITTER: Vercler CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4493744 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature