Study Design: Retrospective study of all patients presented at our emergency department after an accident while riding an e-scooter between 15 June 2019 and 15 December 2019. Out of this group, we subgrouped all patients with injuries to the head and neck area. Objective: Shared e-scooter systems have recently been introduced in many big cities worldwide and are becoming increasingly popular. This retrospective study aimed to give a detailed overview of clinical data on consequences of e-scooter accidents, with particular attention to the maxillofacial point of view. Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective study of all patients presented at our emergency department after an accident while riding an e-scooter between June 15, 2019 and December 15, 2019. Results: Within the observation period, 43 patients (mean age of 32 years; range: 17-64 years) suffered from an accident while riding an e-scooter. Of these, 25 patients (58%) required maxillofacial treatment whereby 9 patients (36%) suffered a fracture (56% fracture of the mandible; 33% fracture of the nasal bone; 11% fracture of the maxilla). Six patients required maxillofacial surgical treatment. Twelve patients (28%) stated to have been driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident (blood alcohol level between 0.77 g/L and 2.32 g/L). None of the patients used body protection, and only one patient wore a helmet (2%). Conclusions: With the introduction of shared e-scooter systems, health-care facilities are faced with an increasing number of accidents related to the use of e-scooters, suffering from a high percentage of injuries in the maxillofacial region. Facial injuries might be reduced by the mandatory use of a helmet with faceguard. The trauma mechanism, in particular, seems to differ from other common trauma cases and needs to be examined more closely.

Graef F, et al. Clin Orthop Surg. 2021 Jul;13:e68. https://doi.org/10.4055/cios20275

Lately, the potential risk of disease transmission due to the use of bovine-derived bone substitutes has become obvious, demonstrating the urgent need for a synthetic grafting material with comparable bioactive behaviour and properties. Therefore, the effect of a synthetic hydroxyapatite (HA) (Osbone^®) bone grafting material on bone regeneration was evaluated 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3, 6, 12 and 18 months after implantation in critical-size bone defects in the ovine scapula and compared to that of a bovine-derived HA (Bio-Oss^®) and β-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) (Cerasorb^® M). New bone formation and the biodegradability of the bone substitutes were assessed histomorphometrically. Hard tissue histology and immunohistochemical analysis were employed to characterize collagen type I, alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, as well as bone sialoprotein expression in the various cell and matrix components of the bone tissue to evaluate the bioactive properties of the bone grafting materials. No inflammatory tissue response was detected with any of the bone substitute materials studied. After 3 and 6 months, β-TCP (Cerasorb^® M) showed superior bone formation when compared to both HA-based materials (3 months: β-TCP 55.65 ± 2.03% vs. SHA 49.05 ± 3.84% and BHA 47.59 ± 1.97%; p ≤ 0.03; 6 months: β-TCP 62.03 ± 1.58%; SHA: 55.83 ± 2.59%; BHA: 53.44 ± 0.78%; p ≤ 0.04). Further, after 12 and 18 months, a similar degree of bone formation and bone–particle contact was noted for all three bone substitute materials without any significant differences. The synthetic HA supported new bone formation, osteogenic marker expression, matrix mineralization and good bone-bonding behaviour to an equal and even slightly superior degree compared to the bovine-derived HA. As a result, synthetic HA can be regarded as a valuable alternative to the bovine-derived HA without the potential risk of disease transmission.

Introduction: The overall survival among head and neck cancer patients is still low, even in a time of new therapy regimes. Regarding cancer patients’ survival, statin use has already proven to be associated with favorable survival outcomes. Our objective was to investigate the influence of statin medication on the overall survival of head and neck cancer patients. Methods: Retrospective clinical data of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer (International Classification of Diseases codes: C00–C14) were retrieved from a real-world evidence database. The initial cohort was divided into patients with statin medication, who were assigned to building cohort I, and subjects without statin medication, who were assigned to cohort II, both matched by age, gender, and risk factors (nicotine and alcohol abuse/dependence). Subsequently, Kaplan–Meier and risk analyses were performed, and odds and hazard ratios were calculated. Results: After matching, each cohort contained 48,626 patients (cohort I = females: 15,409; (31.7%), males 33,212 (68.3%); mean age ± standard deviation (SD) at diagnosis 66.3 ± 11.4 years; cohort II = females: 15,432; (31.7%), males 33,187 (68.2%); mean age ± standard deviation (SD) at diagnosis 66.4 ± 11.5 years). Five-year survival was found to be significantly higher for cohort I, with 75.19%, respectively 70.48% for cohort II. These findings were correlated significantly with a risk of death of 15.9% (cohort I) and 17.2% (cohort II); the odds ratio was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.881–0.942) and the hazard ratio 0.80 (0.777–0.827). Conclusions: The results indicate that the five-year survival of head and neck cancer patients is significantly improved by statin medication. As this study was conducted retrospectively, our data must be interpreted with caution, especially since other potential influencing factors and the initial tumor stage were not available.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of vestibuloplasty on the clinical success and survival of dental implants in head and neck tumor patients. Materials and methods: A retrospective single-center study was conducted. All patients received surgical therapy of a tumor in the head or neck and underwent surgical therapy and, if necessary, radiotherapy/radiochemotherapy. Patients with compromised soft tissue conditions received vestibuloplasty using a split thickness skin graft and an implant-retained splint. Implant survival and success and the influence of vestibuloplasty, gender, radiotherapy, and localizations were evaluated. Results: A total of 247 dental implants in 49 patients (18 women and 31 men; mean age of 63.6 years) were evaluated. During the observation period, 6 implants were lost. The cumulative survival rate was 99.1% after 1 year and 3 years and 93.1% after 5 years for patients without vestibuloplasty, compared to a survival and success rate of 100% after 5 years in patients with vestibuloplasty. Additionally, patients with vestibuloplasty showed significantly lower peri-implant bone resorption rates after 5 years (mesial: p = 0.003; distal: p = 0.001). Conclusion: This study demonstrates a high cumulative survival and success rate of dental implants after 5 years in head and neck tumor patients, irrespective of irradiation. Patients with vestibuloplasty showed a significantly higher rate of implant survival and significantly lower peri-implant bone resorption after 5 years. Clinical relevance: Vestibuloplasty should always be considered and applied if required by the anatomical situations to achieve high implant survival/success rates in head and neck tumor patients.