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. 2023 Mar 2;18(3):e0279850. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279850

Computed tomography evaluation of risk factors for an undesirable buccal split during sagittal split ramus osteotomy

Yasuyuki Fujii 1,*, Ayano Hatori 1, Miwa Horiuchi 1, Tomoko Sugiyama-Tamura 1, Hayato Hamada 1, Risa Sugisaki 1, Yuki Kanno 2, Marika Sato 1, Michihide Kono 1, On Hasegawa 1, Yoko Kawase-Koga 2, Daichi Chikazu 1
Editor: Tanay Chaubal3
PMCID: PMC9980734  PMID: 36862692

Abstract

Sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) sometimes induces an irregular split pattern referred to as a bad split. We investigated the risk factors for bad splits in the buccal plate of the ramus during SSRO. Ramus morphology and bad splits in the buccal plate of the ramus were assessed using preoperative and postoperative computed tomography images. Of the 53 rami analyzed, 45 had a successful split, and 8 had a bad split in the buccal plate. Horizontal images at the height of the mandibular foramen showed that there were significant differences in the ratio of the forward thickness to the backward thickness of the ramus between patients with a successful split and those with a bad split. In addition, the distal region of the cortical bone tended to be thicker and the curve of the lateral region of the cortical bone tended to be smaller in the bad split group than in the good split group. These results indicated that a ramus shape in which the width becomes thinner towards the back frequently induces bad splits in the buccal plate of the ramus during SSRO, and more attention should be paid to patients who have rami of these shapes in future surgeries.

Introduction

Sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) is a common surgical method for the correction of mandibular prognathism. Compared with intraoral vertical ramus osteotomy, which is another common method for orthognathic surgery, SSRO requires a shorter period of intermaxillary fixation because of the large area of bony contact and the rigid fixation. However, SSRO sometimes induces an irregular split pattern referred to as a bad split. The incidence of bad splits in SSRO from 21 studies varied between 0.21% and 22.72% [1]. A bad split in sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) is defined as an unfavorable fracture pattern of the mandible during osteotomy or splitting [2,3]. Bad splits during SSRO have been reported to occur in the buccal plate of the proximal segment, lingual plate of the distal segment, coronoid process, and condylar neck [4]. Among them, the buccal plate of the proximal segment is the most frequent site of fracture. Buccal plate fractures in the anterior site may heal just by removing the small segment. However, it is difficult to treat a bad split in the ramus. An undesirable buccal split in the ramus results in bony interference between the proximal and distal segments during setback movement, or results in attachment of the condyle to the distal segment. Salvage surgical approaches for buccal fractures in the ramus are sometimes challenging. Previous studies have reported risk factors for bad splits during SSRO [58], but there is controversy regarding some of the risk factors. It is still unclear whether older age of the patients, the presence of the third molar, and mandibular anatomy increases the risk of bad splits during SSRO.

Little is known about whether the anatomical features of the ramus affect the risk of buccal fractures in the proximal segment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for bad splits in the buccal plate of the ramus during SSRO by analyzing the anatomy of the ramus using computed tomography (CT).

Materials and methods

Patients and surgical treatments

The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical University reviewed and approved the study design (study approval number: T2021-0061). Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. A total of 27 Japanese patients (13 men and 14 women) who were treated by SSRO at Tokyo Medical University Hospital between January and December 2020 were analyzed. The age of the patients at the time of orthognathic surgery ranged from 17 to 51 years (mean: 25.5 years; median: 24.0 years). SSRO procedures were performed basically according to the Hunsuck-Epker modification, which is known as short lingual osteotomy (SLO) [9,10]. Patients who underwent extraction of the lower third molars or advanced movement of the proximal segment during SSRO were excluded. Patients who underwent advanced movement of the proximal segment during SSRO were also excluded because SSRO procedures in these patients were basically performed according to the Obwegeser-Dal Pont method. Features of the jaw deformities were mandibular prognathism with/without maxillary retrusion and/or facial asymmetry.

A modified version of SLO that has been described in a previous study [11], in which an ultrasonic bone-cutting device is used to determine the posterior osteotomy boundary, was performed in all cases. Briefly, after incision of the mucosa of the anterior border of the ramus, the periosteum was detached from the inferior border to the posterior border of the lateral aspect of the ramus, and then was also detached from the medial aspect extending horizontally in a posterior direction from between the sigmoid notch and mandibular foramen up to the posterior border of the ramus. Horizontal osteotomy was performed above the lingula of the mandible using a Lindemann bur. The cortical bone was cut from the lateral aspect of the anterior mandibular body to the medial aspect of the ramus using a reciprocating saw. Vertical osteotomy of about 10 mm was then conducted from the posterior edge of the horizontal osteotomy line toward the inferior border, using an ultrasonic bone-cutting device (SONOPET; Stryker Corporation) to split the sagittal surface of the ramus.

To ensure that all surgeries were performed using the same surgical technique, the chairman of our department, who has been performing craniofacial surgeries for more than 30 years and specializes in orthognathic surgery, participated and supervised all surgeries. The same instruments were used in all surgeries in this study. Nine surgeons, including the chairman, performed all operations. The 9 surgeons were all members of the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, who have been performing craniofacial surgery for 9 or more years.

CT analysis of rami anatomy and buccal fracture of the rami

CT analyses were performed about 1 month before the surgery, and 4 or 5 days after the surgery, using a Revolution CT device (GE Healthcare) at Tokyo Medical University Hospital (tube voltage: 120 kV; tube current: auto mA; rotation time: 0.5 s/rotation; slice width: 2.5 mm; slice interval: 0.625 mm; field of view: 23 cm; reconstruction kernel: bone; scan pitch: 0.561).

Horizontal images were obtained at the height of the lingula of the mandible (Image A, Fig 1A) and the mandibular foramen (Image B, Fig 1B), and the landmarks for measurement were manually identified (Fig 1C and 1D); in Image A, the forward point (A), the backward point (B), the intersection point of the perpendicular bisector of line AB and the lateral surface of the buccal cortical bone (C), in Image B, the medial point (D), the point on the medial surface 5 mm behind point D (E), the point of tangency of the mandibular foramen and point D (F), the center of the mandibular foramen (G), the point of tangency of the lateral surface of the lingual cortical bone and point F (H), the backward point (I), the point on the medial surface 5 mm in front of point I (J), the point on the lateral surface 5 mm in front of point I (K), the forward point (L), the point on the lateral surface 5 mm behind point L (M), and the intersection point of the perpendicular bisector of line IL and the lateral surface of the buccal cortical bone (N). Angle ACB as the curve of the medial region of the cortical bone and the thickness of the distal region of the cortical bone were measured in Image A. Angle DFH as the curve of the medial region of the cortical bone, angle LNI as the curve of the lateral region of the cortical bone, the distance of EM as the forward thickness of the ramus, the distance of JK as the backward thickness of the ramus, the distance of GI, and the thickness of the distal region of the cortical bone were measured in Image B. Whether or not the mandibular foramen was in direct contact with the buccal cortical bone was also evaluated in Image B. Bad splits in the buccal plate of the ramus were evaluated in Image A or B after surgery, when a split line appeared on the buccal cortical bone 3 mm or more lateral from point I (Fig 1E). These measurements were conducted 3 times by 2 experienced oral surgeons, and the mean values were analyzed. Measurements were performed once a month, and 2 surgeons performed the measurements individually.

Fig 1. Measurement of mandibular morphology in the ramus and evaluation of bad splits during SSRO.

Fig 1

Horizontal images at the height of the lingula of the mandible (Image A, A) and the mandibular foramen (Image B, B) were obtained on preoperative CT, and the landmarks for measurement were manually identified in Image A (C) and Image B (D); in Image A, the forward point (point A), the backward point (point B), the intersection point of the perpendicular bisector of line AB and the lateral surface of the buccal cortical bone (point C), in Image B, the medial point (point D), the point on the medial surface 5 mm behind point D (point E), the point of tangency of the mandibular foramen and point D (point F), the center of the mandibular foramen (point G), the point of tangency of the lateral surface of the lingual cortical bone and point F (point H), the backward point (point I), the point on the medial surface 5 mm in front of point I (point J), the point on the lateral surface 5 mm in front of point I (point K), the forward point (point L), the point on the lateral surface 5 mm behind point L (point M), and the intersection point of the perpendicular bisector of line IL and the lateral surface of the buccal cortical bone (point N). The thickness of the distal region of the cortical bone was measured in both Images A and B (blue lines in (C) and (D), respectively). Bad splits in the buccal plate of the ramus were evaluated in Image A or B after surgery, when the split line appeared on the buccal cortical bone 3 mm or more lateral from point I (E).

Bone quality analysis by measurement of Hounsfield Units (HUs)

To evaluate bone quality, HU values in the ramus were analyzed using Simplant software (Dentsply Sirona). HUs were measured in 2 rectangular areas in Images A and B. The rectangle was located 3 mm (anterior area) or 8 mm (posterior area) in front of the backward point (Fig 4A and 4B). The width of the rectangle was set at 1.5 mm, and the length was defined as the distance from the buccal surface to the lingual surface. Anterior and posterior HUs were defined as the average HU in Images A and B, respectively. These measurements were conducted 3 times by 2 oral surgeons, and the mean values were analyzed (S1C–S1F Fig in S1 Raw data). Measurements were performed once a month, and 2 surgeons performed the measurements individually.

Fig 4. Analysis of HUs in the ramus.

Fig 4

HUs were measured in 2 rectangular areas at the height of the lingula of the mandible (A) and the mandibular foramen (B). The rectangle was located 3 mm (anterior area) or 8 mm (posterior area) in front of the backward point. The rectangle width was set at 1.5 mm, and the length was defined as the distance from the buccal surface to the lingual surface. Anterior HUs (C) and posterior HUs (D) of the 2 groups, measured from Images A and B, respectively. (E) Values of posterior HU minus anterior HU of the 2 groups. Data are presented as mean ± SD.

Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis was performed by the Student t-test or the Fisher exact test using Prism 8 software (GraphPad Software). A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference between 2 groups. Intra-rater reliability was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) by SPSS 24.0 software (IBM).

Results

One rami which was operated for advanced movement of the proximal segment was excluded. Of the 53 rami analyzed, 45 had a successful split (good split group: 84.9%), and 8 had a bad split in the buccal plate of the ramus (bad split group: 15.1%, Fig 2). There was no significant difference in the age of the patients between the good split and the bad split groups. Bad splits occurred more frequently in male patients (87.5%) than in female patients. In Image A, there were no significant differences in angle ACB and the thickness of the distal region of the cortical bone between the good split group and the bad split group (Fig 3A and 3B). On the other hand, there was a statistically significant difference in the ratio of EM to JK between the two groups (p = 0.037) (Fig 3C). In addition, the distal region of the cortical bone in the bad split group tended to be thicker (p = 0.099) (Fig 3D), and angle LNI in the bad split group tended to be smaller than in the good split group (p = 0.087) (Fig 3E), although the difference was not statistically significant. There were also no significant differences in angle DFH and the distance of GI between the two groups (Fig 3F and 3G). In four patients of the good split group and one patient of the bad split group, the mandibular foramen was in direct contact with the buccal cortical bone, although there was no significant difference in the frequency between the two groups (Table 1; p = 0.574). The ICC values for the measurements of the CT images were from 0.966 to 0.998.

Fig 2. Representative three-dimensional image of an undesirable buccal split during SSRO.

Fig 2

The yellow arrows indicate a bad split in the buccal plate of the ramus.

Fig 3. Analysis of mandibular morphology in the ramus and evaluation of bad splits occurring during SSRO.

Fig 3

Comparisons between the good split and the bad split group regarding angle ACB (A), thickness of the distal region of the cortical bone in Image A (B), the ratio of EM to JK (C), thickness of the distal region of the cortical bone in Image B (D), angle LNI (E), angle DFH (F), and distance of GI (G). Data are presented as mean ± SD.

Table 1. Comparison of the location of the mandibular foramen between the good split group and bad split group in Image B.

Group Direct contact with
buccal cortical bone
No contact with
buccal cortical bone
Total
Good split 4 (8.333) 44 (91.667) 48 (100)
Bad split 1 (12.5) 7 (87.5) 8 (100)

Data are shown as number of patients (%).

The anterior HUs of the bad split group tended to be lower than those of the good split group (p = 0.0717) (Fig 4C); however, the mean posterior HUs of the 2 groups were almost the same (good split group: 1,216; bad split group: 1,197) (Fig 4D). Values of posterior HU minus anterior HU of the bad split group also tended to be higher than those of the good split group (p = 0.0524) (Fig 4E). In addition, the posterior HUs were all higher than the anterior HUs in the bad split group. The ICC value for the measurements of bone quality analysis was 0.972.

Discussion

Bad split is a major complication in SSRO. Among the cases of bad splits, the most frequent site is the buccal plate of the proximal segment [12]. Chrcanovic BR. Et al reported that the incidence of bad splits in SSRO from 21 studies varied between 0.21% and 22.72% [1]. The other reported incidence of bad splits in SSRO ranges from 0.5% to 5.5% per site [13,14]. In the present study, the rate of bad splits in the buccal plate might be higher than that of previous studies. This difference may be owing to the definition of a bad split. We defined a bad split as a buccal split, which is the appearance of a split line on the buccal cortical bone 3 mm or more lateral from point I. A split line near the posterior edge of the buccal cortical bone might not result in any problems during surgery.

Risk factors of a bad split in SSRO, such as older age, a thick mandible, surgical technique, horizontal osteotomy line, and presence of the lower third molars have previously been investigated [58,15,16]. However, the results remain controversial. For example, a previous study demonstrated that the presence of mandibular third molars increased the risk of a bad split [17]. However, other studies reported that the presence of mandibular third molars do not increase the risk of bad splits [6,18]. Surgical procedures might also have an effect on the incidence of bad splits during SSRO. Zeynalzadeh F. et al reported that the incidence of unfavorable fractures Hunsuck technique is less compared to the Dal Pont osteotomy technique [19].

Mandibular anatomy also affects the risk of bad splits during SSRO. Previous studies suggested that patients with a shorter ramus and thinner buccolingual alveolar region distal to the second molar have a higher risk of bad splits than other patients [7,20]. Moreover, in a study by Aarabi et al., patients with a shorter ramus and buccolingually thin mandible were found to be more susceptible to fracture during sagittal osteotomy than other patients [21]. In the present study, we analyzed mandibular anatomy using preoperative CT to determine whether the shape of the ramus affects the risk of bad splits in the buccal plate of the proximal segment. Compared with the good split group, the ratio of EM to JK was larger in the bad split group. This result indicates that a ramus shape in which the width becomes thinner from the front to the back increases the risk of bad splits in the buccal plate. Angle LNI, which was regarded as the curve of the lateral region of the cortical bone at the height of the mandibular foramen, in the bad split group tended to be smaller than that in the good split group, although the difference was not statistically significant. The split may be caused by pressure applied on the distal aspect of the posterior ramus during SSRO in patients with such a mandibular shape. The distal region of the cortical bone also tended to be thicker in the bad split group. This shape may result in force being applied to the medial or distal aspect of the posterior ramus in the front of the distal region of the cortical bone, because it is difficult to split the thick cortical bone. In addition, our results also showed that posterior HUs were all higher than anterior HUs in the bad split group, although there was no significant difference in the values of posterior HU minus anterior HU (Fig 4E). Therefore, a higher posterior HU might induce short splits in not only the lingual side but also in the buccal side. Further studies are needed to obtain more evidence regarding this point.

There were no differences in ramus shape between the two groups in the analysis of horizontal images at the height of the lingula of the mandible. It was difficult to identify the points of measurement, such as the medial point and the center of the mandibular foramen, because the lingula of the mandible had various shapes. One limitation of the present study is that only 1 anatomical factor was indicated as a risk factor. We selected 2 areas at the height of the lingula of the mandible and the mandibular foramen because these 2 points could easily be identified in the horizontal image. It was sometimes difficult to perform measurements owing to metal artifacts, and to identify anatomical points for measurement in the other axial images. Anatomical analyses using horizontal images (either coronal or sagittal) at other heights of the ramus, or using three-dimensional images may reveal more details regarding the association between mandibular anatomy and the occurrence of bad splits in the buccal plate of the proximal segment during SSRO. Another limitation is that the patients in this study underwent operations performed by different surgeons with various surgical experiences, which might have resulted in inter-operator bias in evaluating the outcomes. To minimize this bias, an expert in orthognathic surgery participated in and supervised all surgeries, to ensure the use of the same surgical technique and the same instruments. In the present study, 9 surgeons performed the surgeries. This is a rather large number of surgeons for performing surgeries on only 27 patients, which can increase the variability substantially and reduce the statistical power. Therefore, further studies involving a larger number of samples, and a multicenter study analyzing other risk factors, such as surgical technique, are needed to obtain more evidence to support our present results.

Conclusions

Patients with a ramus shape in which the width becomes thinner from the front to the back, a cortical bone that is thick in the distal region, or a lateral cortical bone that has a sharp curve at the height of the mandibular foramen are more susceptible to bone fracture during SSRO than other patients.

Supporting information

S1 Raw data

(XLSX)

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all staff members of Tokyo Medical University hospital for their assistance during data collection. We acknowledge all study participants for their willingness to take part in the study.

Data Availability

All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.

Funding Statement

Initials of the authors who received each award: YF Grant numbers awarded to each author: (No. 21K17098). The full name of each funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant. URL of each funder website: https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/index.html Did the sponsors or funders play any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript?: No.). Initials of the authors who received each award: DC Grant numbers awarded to each author: (No. 22K10230). The full name of each funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI Grant. URL of each funder website: https://www.jsps.go.jp/english/index.html Did the sponsors or funders play any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript?: No.

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Decision Letter 0

Tanay Chaubal

10 Aug 2022

PONE-D-22-09899Computed tomography evaluation of risk factors for an undesirable buccal split during sagittal split ramus osteotomyPLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

**********

2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

**********

3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: 1) Nine surgeons who were trained in oral surgery for 9 or more years performed all operations:

no mention is made of intraoperative evaluation criteria (as supervisor has also been involved with 20 years of experience). Since huge number of surgeons are involved for the intervention (even though using the the same surgical technique with various surgical experience), there is high chances of inter-operater bias evaluating the outcomes. Therefore, authors should explain how they are going to minimise these bias. Moreover, surgeons to surgery ratio seems wider as 9 surgeons are intervening 53 ramus. This may be an important bias. Please try to minimise these shortcomings.

2) These measurements were conducted 3 times by 2 experienced oral surgeons, and the mean values were analyzed: how does the inter-observer bias during measurement process has been analyzed. what was the interval of measurement?

3)The age of the patients at the time of orthognathic surgery ranged from 17 to 51 years:

as the bone quality varies with increasing age, control group with 17 years and 51 years can show a potential error. how would you justify it? Furthermore, what was the indication for performing osteotomy for older aged groups?

4) No detail explanation about the surgical technique has been mentioned as this study is solely focused on intraoperative outcomes of osteotomy procedure.

5) Authors should stress the limitation of the study due to its nature and the fact that only one anatomical factor (thickness of distal bone of ramus) has been considered. This could influence surgical outcomes.

Reviewer #2: This study evaluated anatomical factors to cause a bad split in SSRO and concluded that bigger ratio of anterior to posterior width of mandibular ramus. There are some impediments to draw the conclusion. First of all, the limited number of cases. I am wondering if only 8 cases of bad split vs. 45 of successful split could perform sound statistical analysis. Furthermore, 9 surgeons operated though surgical technique might be one of the causes of bad split. As they stated in Discussion, the reason why the horizontal plane of mandibular foramen was selected to be analyzed is obscure. It might be better to analyze more sections. Lastly, I personally think the quality of bone such as elasticity could be critical factor of bad split. It might be interesting if they analyze CT value (HF unit) although I am not sure whether HF unit reflects the elasticity of bone.

**********

6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

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Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Dr. Manoj Kumar Sah

Reviewer #2: Yes: Izumi Asahina

**********

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PLoS One. 2023 Mar 2;18(3):e0279850. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279850.r002

Author response to Decision Letter 0


14 Nov 2022

Point-by-point responses to the Reviewers’ comments

We wish to express our appreciation to the reviewers for their insightful comments, which have helped us to substantially improve our manuscript.

Responses to Reviewer 1

Comment #1

Nine surgeons who were trained in oral surgery for 9 or more years performed all operations:

no mention is made of intraoperative evaluation criteria (as supervisor has also been involved with 20 years of experience). Since huge number of surgeons are involved for the intervention (even though using the the same surgical technique with various surgical experience), there is high chances of inter-operater bias evaluating the outcomes. Therefore, authors should explain how they are going to minimise these bias. Moreover, surgeons to surgery ratio seems wider as 9 surgeons are intervening 53 ramus. This may be an important bias. Please try to minimise these shortcomings.

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. One expert in orthognathic surgery (the chairman of our department), participated and supervised all surgeries, to ensure the use of the same surgical technique and the same instruments. In addition, the other 8 surgeons, who were all certified surgeons of the Japanese Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons, have been performing oral and maxillofacial surgeries for 9 or more years. We hence assumed that all surgeons have basic skills and knowledge of orthognathic surgery, and performed all surgeries in the same way. In accordance with the comment, we have revised the text accordingly, and added this point as a limitation of the study (Materials and Methods: p5-6, lines 89-95, Discussion: p15, lines 263–269).

Comment #2

These measurements were conducted 3 times by 2 experienced oral surgeons, and the mean values were analyzed: how does the inter-observer bias during measurement process has been analyzed. what was the interval of measurement?

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. To minimize inter-observer bias, the measurements were performed once a month, and 2 surgeons performed the measurements individually. In accordance with the comment, we have revised the text (Materials and Methods: p7, lines 125–126).

Comment #3

The age of the patients at the time of orthognathic surgery ranged from 17 to 51 years:

as the bone quality varies with increasing age, control group with 17 years and 51 years can show a potential error. how would you justify it? Furthermore, what was the indication for performing osteotomy for older aged groups?

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. As you mentioned, bone quality varies with age, and whether age is a risk factor for bad splits remains unclear (Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2021 Jul;59(6):678-682. doi: 10.1016/j.bjoms.2020.08.107). In this study, there was no significant difference in the age of the patients between the control and the bad split groups, and hence we assumed that the bone quality of the patients in the 2 groups are similar. To confirm this point, we measured HU values to analyze bone quality (Fig 4. A-B), and our results showed that there were no significant differences between the 2 groups. However, posterior HUs were all higher than anterior HUs in the bad split group, and this feature might induce short splits in not only the lingual side but the buccal side. Further studies are needed to obtain more evidence regarding this point. We have included this information in the revised manuscript (Results: p10-11, lines 183–188).

Comment #4

No detail explanation about the surgical technique has been mentioned as this study is solely focused on intraoperative outcomes of osteotomy procedure.

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. We have included a detailed description of the surgical technique to the text (Materials and Methods: p4-5, lines 76–88).

Comment #5

Authors should stress the limitation of the study due to its nature and the fact that only one anatomical factor (thickness of distal bone of ramus) has been considered. This could influence surgical outcomes.

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. We only investigated 1 anatomical feature and bone quality in the ramus in this study. In accordance with the comment, we have added this limitation to the Discussion section (Discussion: p15, lines 254–259).

Responses to Reviewer 2

Comment #1

First of all, the limited number of cases. I am wondering if only 8 cases of bad split vs. 45 of successful split could perform sound statistical analysis.

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. In this study, patients who were treated during a 1-year period were analyzed, because some surgeons and instructors transfer to different departments or hospitals every year. In addition, surgical methods and instruments might differ among different operators. If we analyze patients who were treated within 2 or more years, we will be able to analyze more patients, but the data might include other biases or be more variable. Therefore, we analyzed patients who underwent surgery during a 1-year period. We agree with your comment that this is a limitation of this study, and have added this limitation to the manuscript. (Discussion: p15, lines 267–269).

Comment #2

Furthermore, 9 surgeons operated though surgical technique might be one of the causes of bad split.

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. As you pointed out, differences in surgical experience or techniques might cause inter-operator bias in evaluating the outcomes. To minimize this bias, 1 expert of orthognathic surgery participated and supervised all of the surgeries, to ensure the use of the same surgical technique and the same instruments. In accordance with the comment, we included this information in the manuscript (Materials and Methods: p5-6, lines 89–95).

Comment #3

As they stated in Discussion, the reason why the horizontal plane of mandibular foramen was selected to be analyzed is obscure. It might be better to analyze more sections.

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. In this study, we selected 2 areas at the height of the lingula of the mandible and the mandibular foramen, because these 2 points were easily identified in the horizontal image. It was sometimes difficult to perform measurements owing to metal artifacts, and to identify anatomical points for measurement in the other axial images. Further studies, such as the analysis of 3-dimensional images, are needed to obtain more evidence. In accordance with the comment, we added this information to the Discussion section of the revised manuscript (Discussion: p15, lines 254–262).

Comment #4

Lastly, I personally think the quality of bone such as elasticity could be critical factor of bad split. It might be interesting if they analyze CT value (HF unit) although I am not sure whether HF unit reflects the elasticity of bone.

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. In accordance with the comment, HU values in the ramus were analyzed to evaluate bone quality. The results indicated that there were no statistical differences in bone quality between the 2 groups. However, the anterior HU of the bad split group tended to be lower than that of the control group (p = 0.0717) (Fig 4C), and the values of posterior HU minus anterior HU in the bad split group also tended to be higher than in the control group (p = 0.0524) (Fig 4E). We hence could not conclude that there was a correlation between buccal splits and bone quality. However, posterior HUs were all higher than anterior HUs in the bad split group, and this feature might induce short splits in not only the lingual side but the buccal side. Further studies are needed to obtain more evidence regarding this point. In accordance with the comment, we added this point to the text (Results: p10-11, lines 183–188).

Attachment

Submitted filename: Responses_to_Reviewers.docx

Decision Letter 1

Tanay Chaubal

6 Dec 2022

PONE-D-22-09899R1Computed tomography evaluation of risk factors for an undesirable buccal split during sagittal split ramus osteotomyPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Yasuyuki Fujii,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

I thank you for replying to the reviewers comments. However, there are few minor queries which need to be addressed. Kindly reply to those queries.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Jan 20 2023 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

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Tanay Chaubal

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: Most of the comments are addressed in an acceptable way.

Reviewer #3: The author has addressed most of the comments of the previous reviewers, However, there are other comments which are needed to be explained by the author: -

1- Could you define the bad split in the introduction section?

2- You have divided the patients into two groups, control and bad split, although they underwent the same procedures/split technique. Bad split is considered as a complication rather than a technique. I suggest renaming the groups such as correct/good split and bad split instead of control and bad split to be less confusing for the readers.

3- 9 Surgeons ran the surgery. These numbers of surgeons for 27 cases are too many and can increase the variability that can dramatically reduce your statistical power and impact the measurement and statistical data analysis, despite the presence of one supervisor. This point could be considered as a study limitation.

4- Could you mention the age of the patients in the methodology section?

5- You have mentioned that two surgeons measured the data. Is it for reliability or they shared the CT images to process them and collect data? If it was for interexaminer reliability, what is the correlation between the two measurements (surgeon 1 and 2)?

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: Yes: Manoj Kumar Sah

Reviewer #3: No

**********

[NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.]

While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step.

PLoS One. 2023 Mar 2;18(3):e0279850. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279850.r004

Author response to Decision Letter 1


13 Dec 2022

Point-by-point responses to the Reviewers’ comments

We wish to express our appreciation to the reviewers for their insightful comments, which have helped us to substantially improve our manuscript.

Responses to Reviewer 3

Comment #1

Could you define the bad split in the introduction section?

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. We have revised the text in accordance with the comment (Introduction: p3, lines 44-45).

Comment #2

You have divided the patients into two groups, control and bad split, although they underwent the same procedures/split technique. Bad split is considered as a complication rather than a technique. I suggest renaming the groups such as correct/good split and bad split instead of control and bad split to be less confusing for the readers.

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. To avoid confusion, we changed “control” to “good split” throughout the manuscript.

Comment #3

9 Surgeons ran the surgery. These numbers of surgeons for 27 cases are too many and can increase the variability that can dramatically reduce your statistical power and impact the measurement and statistical data analysis, despite the presence of one supervisor. This point could be considered as a study limitation.

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. In accordance with the comment, we have added this point as a limitation of the study (Discussion: p16, lines 273–275).

Comment #4

Could you mention the age of the patients in the methodology section?

Response:

Thank you very much for this comment. We have revised the text in accordance with the comment (Materials and Methods: p4, lines 69-71).

Comment #5

You have mentioned that two surgeons measured the data. Is it for reliability or they shared the CT images to process them and collect data? If it was for interexaminer reliability, what is the correlation between the two measurements (surgeon 1 and 2)?

Response:

We greatly appreciate and agree with this comment. Two surgeons performed the measurements to examine interexaminer reliability. Interexaminer reliability was quantified using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). The ICC values for the measurements of the CT images were from 0.966 to 0.998. The ICC value for the measurements of bone quality analysis in Fig. 4 was 0.972. These results indicated excellent reliability. We have revised the text accordingly, and added this point to the manuscript (Materials and Methods: p9-10, lines 165-167, Results: p11, lines 186–187, 193-194).

Attachment

Submitted filename: Responses_to_Reviewers.docx

Decision Letter 2

Tanay Chaubal

15 Dec 2022

Computed tomography evaluation of risk factors for an undesirable buccal split during sagittal split ramus osteotomy

PONE-D-22-09899R2

Dear Dr. Yasuyuki Fujii,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

Kind regards,

Tanay Chaubal

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #3: Partly

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

**********

7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #3: No

**********

Acceptance letter

Tanay Chaubal

15 Feb 2023

PONE-D-22-09899R2

Computed tomography evaluation of risk factors for an undesirable buccal split during sagittal split ramus osteotomy

Dear Dr. Fujii:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

If we can help with anything else, please email us at plosone@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Tanay Chaubal

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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    Submitted filename: Responses_to_Reviewers.docx

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    Submitted filename: Responses_to_Reviewers.docx

    Data Availability Statement

    All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.


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