Examination of ambulation after secondary bone grafting to the alveolar clefts

Abstract

The purpose of secondary alveolar cleft bone grafting is to reconstruct the dental arch.
This study examines postoperative ambulatory recovery after secondary iliac particulate marrow and cancelous bone grafting.
A total of 33 patients with cleft lip, alveolus, and/or palate underwent bone grafting between February 1998 and December 2000.
These patients comprised 20 males (23 operations) and 13 females (13 operations) with a median age of 11 years at operation and an age range of 7 to 24 years.
Four to eight grams (median 5 g) of autogenous particulate marrow was harvested from iliac bone.
The median recovery time until the patients could move about with the use of a wheelchair was 1 day.
They could walk with and without aid on the 3rd and 5th postoperative days, respectively.
The patients were discharged when they could walk up and down stairs, and the median discharge day was the 14th postoprative day.