Evaluation of decompression in the treatment of odontogenic keratocysts : a clinical and radiographic study

Abstract EN

Background and objectives : keratocyst is the most aggressive entity of odontogenic cysts with a high tendency to recure after enucleation.

this objective of this study was to assess the effect of decompression in inducing cyst shrinkage before enucleation.

materials and methods : a prospective non-randomized clinical study was conducted on 11 patients with odontogenic keratocyst presenting to the department of maxillofacial surgery, university-affiliated teaching hospital, between February 2016 to March 2021.

there were 8 males and 3 females, with a mean age of 57 years.

tube decompression was conducted as a preliminary treatment, before enucleation.

the size of the cyst was measured orthopantomographically pre- and post-decompression.

the percentage reduction was estimated, as was the correlation of cyst shrinkage with the initial size of the lesion and age of the patient.

results : the mean duration of decompression was 208 days (152-316).

the cyst size before and after decompression was 14.51 cm³ (5.63 cm² -32.37 cm²) and 6.69 cm² (1.76 cm²-14.81 cm²), respectively.

the total and monthly percent shrinkage of the cysts were 54.39% (37.29 % -76.37%) and 7.84% (4.45% -11.27%), respectively.

the initial size of the lesion did not correlate significantly with the percentage of reduction, whereas the age of the patients showed a significantly negative correlation with the percentage of reduction.

conclusions : decompression is a well-tolerated minimally invasive surgical treatment that leads to a significant reduction in the size of the cyst.

it induces the cyst to shrink away from anatomical structures to reduce the morbidity associated with subsequent enucleation.