Carbon Dioxide Laser Sequestrectomy for Osteoradionecrosis: A Case Series

Abstract

Objective: To demonstrate a new approach to sequestrectomy using a carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser for a clinic-based technique. Background: Osteoradionecrosis (ORN) of the jaw is a debilitating complication of radiotherapy for head and neck malignancies. Often refractory to medical therapy, surgical intervention for early staged disease with curettage and mechanical bone removal has mixed success, making this disease extremely difficult to treat. Therefore, new approaches to treat ORN of the jaw is needed. Methods: We describe five cases of early-to-intermediate-staged ORN illustrating a novel clinic-based sequestrectomy technique using a CO₂ laser. Results: The exposed bone lesions involved the mandibular fixed gingiva, maxillary fixed gingiva, and hard palate. None of the patients had diabetes. Four patients required a total of two laser treatments and one patient needed only one treatment. All five patients demonstrated an excellent response with complete resolution of their ORN-related pain and complete mucosal coverage of the exposed bone with durable results (follow-up range, 7-19 months). Conclusions: This small series demonstrates encouraging results for CO₂ laser sequestrectomy for ORN. This novel office-based intervention merits further study in larger prospective series and exploration in other disease populations, such as medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws.

Keywords: CO2 laser; head and neck neoplasms; in-clinic procedure; novel treatment approach; osteoradionecrosis.