How to Use 3D Printing in Reconstruction of the Head and Neck (2022 AMW)
2022 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO Experience
Reconstruction of head and neck defects can be challenging due to the complex, 3-dimensional nature of the anatomy. Various traumatic, congenital, and tumor-related reconstructive techniques may benefit from technologies such as virtual surgical planning to produce custom models, cutting guides, plates, or implants. This process can take at least 2 weeks to produce. If the disease process is progressive or time sensitive (cancers or traumatic cases), waiting 2 weeks may be too long. It is also a very costly process to manufacture all of these parts and commonly out-sourced to another company or service. The popularization of 3D printers has allowed surgeons to use VSP to print out custom models and molds, and even cutting guides. This has been shown to save operative time and permit better visualization and molding of implants.
Credits
CME:1.0, MOC:1.0