Piezoelectric surgery versus mechanical drilling for orbital floor decompression: effect on infraorbital hypoaesthesia.

: To compare efficacy and safety of mechanical drill and piezoelectric technology in the prevention of infraorbital nerve hypoaesthesia during orbital floor decompression. : Single-centre, non-randomized prospective, interventional case series. We enrolled 24 patients who underwent 3-wall orbital decompression. A total of 13 patients underwent floor decompression using 5-mm diamond dusted Piezoelectric tip (Synthes GmbH, Oberdorf, Germany), whereas 11 patients underwent conventional mechanical decompression of the floor using Stryker Core handpiece with 5-mm diamond dusted tip (Stryker, USA) and a Kerrison's bone ronguer. All surgeries were performed by a single surgeon (MNN) using standard surgical technique. The infraorbital nerve hypoesthesia was measured pre-operatively, and post-operatively on day 1, at 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months, and final follow-up by an independent observer. Hypoaesthesia was graded on a simple numerical scale: 0 defined as "normal", 1 defined as "minimally reduced", 2 defined as "grossly reduced but perceptible", and 3 defined as "total loss". : The average follow-up after surgery was 16 months (range 13-48 months). The average score in the mechanical drilling group at day 1, week 6, week 12 and final follow-up was 1.9, 1.2, 0.7, and 0.6, respectively ( < 0.001). For the Piezo group, the average scores were 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, and 0.1, respectively. No procedure related complications were noted, and the average surgical time for floor decompression was comparable ( > 0.5). : Piezoelectric technology is effective in orbital floor removal by minimizing infraorbital nerve hypoaesthesia.