Figure 2.

Innervated deep circumflex iliac artery (DCIA) flap presented less bone resorption than control (non-innervated) DCIA flaps after mandibular reconstruction. (A) Computed tomographic (CT) scans of the ilium right before grafted to segmental mandibular defects and the mandibles including the graft regions 12 months after bone reconstruction surgeries. The area between red broken lines and red arrows shows regions of iliac bone grafts. (B) Evaluations of graft bone resorption determined by calculating the percentage loss in graft bone in Hounsfield units (HU) of the CT scans. Significant decreases of bone density were found in innervated DCIA flaps when compared with non-innervated ones (t test; n=10 for each group, *p < 0.05).