Effect of Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) on Bone Graft in Alveolar Cleft Repair

Background: Ultimate repair of alveolar defects is a greatchallenge in practical field, many bone graft materials havebeen evolved in the literatures for alveolar defect reconstructionas autogenous, allogenic, xenogenic, and alloplastic grafts[1], autogenous iliac crest bone graft is the gold standardamong other graft materials evaluated. However, the procedureassociated with a potential risk of early complications suchas graft resorption, graft leakage, infection, or graft failure,failure rate is about 30% [2].Objectives: To assess the efficacy of using Platelet RichPlasma (PRP) in alveolar cleft reconstruction; in combinationwith Iliac Crest Bone Graft (ICBG) in comparison to theconventional Iliac Crest Bone Grafting (ICBG).Patients and Methods: 20 patients underwent alveolarcleft reconstruction at the age of mixed dentition over a 3-year's period; their mean age was 8.8±2.3 years years andtheir mean post-operative follow-up was 13.4 months. Ofthese, 10 patients treated with ICBG combined with PRP(Group I), and 10 patients repaired by ICBG alone Group II(control group) results were assessed by rating the radiographsobtained 3, 6, and 12 months post-operatively according tocone beam CT (CBCT) volume and density assessment.Results: Alveolar cleft repairs using PRP combined cancellousbone (Group I) were 90 percent successful, alveolarcleft repairs using cancellous bone (Group I) were 70 percentsuccessful as regard; bone resorption reduction, bone volumegaining and improved bone density in CBCT at 3, 6, and 12months post-operative with decreased post-operative complicationrates.Conclusion: Application of PRP enhances bone formationin alveolar clefts when admixed with autologous bone graftharvested from the iliac crest as it leads to early bone formation,increased bone density, decreases bone resorption, low infectionrate and least post-operative complications.