Michael Yuanchien CHEN, DDS. MS.
Over consecutive three decades of practicing orthognathic surgery, to be honest, there’re a lot of sweet yet occasional sour experiences or outcomes in my hands. I’d like to share with you the best and the worst of them, both of which have been and will be the most precious collections of my own career, and perhaps kind of lessons for inexperienced young surgeons who are interested in this field.
The first part of my presentation focuses on a friendly protocol of practicing orthognathic surgery that I’ve been applying for more than 700 cases since 2014. Thanks to the computer-aid virtual planning software, individualized CAD/CAM surgical guides and ultrasonic bone cutting, grinding instruments, we’re able to make the surgery efficient enough, precise enough with significant enhancement on patient safety and recovery (ERAS), lessening blood loss and days of hospital staying. In other words, it’s a friendly protocol for patients, trainees and surgeons ourselves.
The second part will be introduced by showing some of the troubles I’ve met including rupture of major neurovascular bundles, post-operative nasal tip deviation, subcutaneous emphysema and an extremely rare intraoperative severe bad split during bilateral SSRO…etc. Thereafter, pertinent reflections and recommendations will be discussed accordingly. Hopefully, all of the above scenarios would never happen again. It’s impossible and unrealistic to expect a surgeon making no mistake at all, nevertheless, being able to salvage complications doesn’t mean we’re much more respectable.
