Background and purpose: Treatment of metopic craniosynostosis often involves bitemporal expansion of the anterior cranium. This report compares perioperative variables of a surgical technique in which the fronto-orbital bandeau is bent in situ to traditional fronto-orbital advancement and remodeling (FOAR).
Method/description: Six patients undergoing the hinge technique were compared to the senior author's 6 most recent conventional FOARs. Study and control cohorts were reasonably well matched for age and sex; only those with nonsyndromic, single-suture metopic synostosis were included. Perioperative variables such as OR time, blood loss, hardware costs, length of stay, and perioperative complications were compared between groups using unpaired t tests.
Results: Operative time was significantly decreased when the hinge technique was utilized, with a mean operative time of 159 ± 14.0 minutes for hinge patients and 193 ± 33.8 minutes for nonhinge patients (P = 0.049). Hardware was also significantly decreased from an average of 2.2 ± 1.0 plates and 35 ± 13.8 screws in nonhinge patients to 1 plate and 20 screws in each hinge patient (P < 0.02), for an average hardware saving of $2990 per hinge surgery (P = 0.019). Estimated blood loss, length of stay, and perioperative complications were not significantly different between groups. All patients in both groups had Whitaker 1 outcomes in short-term follow-up.
Conclusions: The hinge technique for the treatment of metopic synostosis is associated with a statistically significant decrease in operative time, hardware utilization, and hardware cost. Perioperative outcomes were similar between the hinge technique and traditional FOAR in the short term, and additional follow-up is needed to determine whether the 2 have similar long-term outcomes.