Postoperative Infection Caused by a Resorbable Plate used to Treat a Zygomatic Fracture

A 58-year-old female patient was referred to our division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeryby a general dental practitioner with swelling symptoms in the left cheek. Five months earlier, she had fractured her left zygomatic bone, which was fixed using a resorbable plate. A maxillofacial computed tomographic scan taken upon the first visit showed a clear swelling of the soft tissue next to the left maxillary sinus and a maxillary sinusitis. In addition, the plate at the zygomaticomaxillary buttress showed bone resorption surrounding the plate and the screws, possibly because of an infection affecting the area around both the plate and the screws. These were removed, and their molecular weight and average molecular weight measured following extraction. These measurements showed that the plate and the screws had progressively degraded. All symptoms immediately diminished after the operation and no evidence of infection was observed after 3 months after the operation.