Effect of Low-intensity Pulsed Ultrasound on Postorthognathic Surgery Healing Process

BACKGROUND Orthognathic surgery can cause discomforts such as pain, inflammation, and edema. One of the challenges is bone regeneration at surgery area. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) therapy on bone regeneration and pain relief after surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS Following mandibular surgery of nine patients, LIPUS treatment was applied to the left or right side for 3 weeks and 20 min/day. The other side was treated with sham-LIPUS as the control group. Digital panoramic radiographies were obtained immediately after surgery and 3 weeks later. Bone density at surgery site was assessed using Digora version 2.8 software. The data were analyzed with one-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov and t-paired test. Postoperation pain was evaluated by means of visual analog scale. RESULTS Increase in bone density at border and medulla was 23 and 28.33 for experimental group and 13 and 13.55 units in control group, respectively. The differences are statistically significant (P < 0.01). Variance analysis showed that decrease in experienced pain during 3 weeks after surgery was significantly different between groups (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION LIPUS can be an effective way to increase bone modeling and decrease pain following orthognathic surgeries.