Virtual planning of composite mandibular reconstruction with free fibula bone graft.

Functional mandibular reconstruction after tumor resection is challenging. Currently, voxel-based craniofacial surgery and virtual planning of craniofacial surgical procedures are becoming increasingly popular. We report on a 56-year-old patient with an infiltrating recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the mandible and buccal mucosa. Virtual resection of the mandible was accomplished using virtual reality techniques. Based on virtual geometric data, a metal template was configured for optimal contouration of a fibular bone graft while it was still pedicled in the donor field. Our operative procedure demonstrates the usefulness of voxel-based three-dimensional cephalometry in virtual planning of microsurgical bone transfer for mandibular reconstruction.