Over 50 years ago, current tenets of distraction osteogenesis were developed through work on the lower extremity; however, the application of these tenets to the pediatric craniofacial skeleton remains questionable. Prompted by concern that traditional aspects of distraction osteogenesis may lead to higher rates of premature consolidation in the pediatric maxilla, we prospectively evaluated maxillary distraction protocol utilizing a 24-hour latency period in conjunction with a distraction rate of 2mm/day. Following maxillary advancement via distraction protocol consisting of a 24-hour latency period and distraction rate of 2 mm/day, 7 consecutive pediatric cases were evaluated. Standard profile photos and cephalometric films taken pre-operatively, at device removal, and at one year follow up were compared. With the sella as the point of registration, pre- and postdistraction films were superimposed on the sella-nasion plane. Sella-nasion-subspinale, the angle of convexity, the distance from incisal edges to the y axis, and angulation of the upper incisor to the sella-nasion plane were analyzed to evaluate hard tissue changes.
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