Abstract

Advances in imaging techniques can greatly improve the treatment outcome and enhance the success rate of surgical procedures. This review article updates the information on surgical navigation system and its application in maxillofacial surgery. The indications, treatments and outcome of surgical navigation in surgery are also discussed. Electronic searches of the MEDLINE/PubMed database were performed to identify relevant human studies published in the English-language literature from 1980 to the present. The key words derived were traumatology, orthognathic surgery, cancer, reconstruction surgery, skull base surgery and foreign body removal. These were used in combinations for the final search strategy. The search generated 53 articles and surgical navigation is considered to be a useful tool for surgical planning, execution, evaluation and research. The largest number of studies and patients are identified in the field of traumatology, oncology and management of developmental deformities and pathologies. Based on the existing literature, we propose that the surgical navigation appears to be a very promising in addition to the surgical armamentarium. Planning details of the surgery in a 3D virtual environment and execution with real-time guidance can significantly improve precision and result in better prognosis for the patient. Among factors to be considered are the financial investments and the learning curve.

Keywords: Augmented reality; Computer assisted navigation system; Cranio maxillofacial surgery; Phantoms