Is Low Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound (LIPUS) Effective in the Success Rate of Alveolar Cleft Graft?

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the low intensity pulsed ultrasound in reconstruction of the alveolar cleft area after autologous bone grafting.

In this study, 14 patients with unilateral or bilateral cleft lip and palate aged between 9 to 13 years, were selected. Seven of the patients received only the autologous bone graft and the remaining seven underwent alveolar bone graft, and one week after transplantation were subjected to LIPUS waves for five minutes at a frequency of 1 MHz and 100 mW in the area of the graft for a period of five weeks (15 sessions). CBCT images were immediately taken after surgery and three months later. In CBCTs, bone mass was measured with two components of height and bone thickness and the quality was measured by evaluating the bone density by means of the Hounsfield Uniform (HU) mean. Data analysis was done via SPSS version 16 software and using paired t, independent t, and Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.

The mean changes of the sagittal thickness (P=.944), sagittal height (P=.482), and axial thickness (P=.242) before and after surgery, in contrast to the axial height (P=.357) and density (P=.443), were less in the control group than the intervention group, but the differences were not significant for any of variables. In the intervention and control groups, in comparison to the immediate results after surgery, the mean values of the sagittal thickness, sagittal height, axial thickness, and axial height decreased significantly three months later; but the mean loss in density was not significant.

Ultrasound in repairing alveolar defect in patients with cleft palate has no significant effect on clinical success criteria.