ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05205616Updated Jun 4, 2025Results posted

Trial of Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy Induced Paresthesia Using Ultrasonic vs. Reciprocating Saw Instrumentation

An interventional study of Sonopet ultrasonic saw and Reciprocating saw in Surgical Complication, Paresthesia and Fracture, sponsored by University of California, San Francisco. Completed at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged Up to 45 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-06-04.

Sponsored by University of California, San Francisco · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 5 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jul 2021, registered Jan 2022).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
32
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
Up to 45 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The aim of this prospective study is to analyze the postoperative paresthesias experienced in patients who undergo bilateral sagittal split osteotomies (BSSO) using an ultrasonic saw, versus a reciprocating saw. Patients included in the study are ages 15-45 scheduled to undergo BSSO surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. One side of the patient's mandible will be instrumented with either the Stryker Sonopet ultrasonic saw or traditional reciprocating saw, while the other side will receive the remaining intervention (determined via randomization on the day of surgery). Patient paresthesias will then be analyzed on each side for 3 months postoperatively (at postoperative days: 1, 7, 14, 28, and 84). Sensory examinations will be carried out by blinded examiners using von Frey hairs and two point discrimination testing. Patients will also subjectively rate their sensation on each side. The results will then be analyzed to determine if patient paresthesias, including the severity and duration, differed depending on which instrument was used, the ultrasonic or reciprocating saw.

02

Conditions studied

  • Surgical Complication
  • Paresthesia
  • Fracture
  • Nerve Injury
  • Nerve Entrapments
  • Mandibular Nerve Injuries
  • Mandibular Hypoplasia
  • Mandibular Retrognathism
  • Mandibular Hyperplasia
  • Mandibular Prognathism

Keywords

  • Paresthesia
  • BSSO
  • Bilateral Saggital Split Osteotomy
  • Unfavorable split
  • Unfavorable fracture
  • Inferior Alveolar Nerve
  • Reciprocating Saw
  • Ultrasonic Saw
  • Pair matched
  • Randomized Control Trial
03

In context

Paresthesia

66 studies on the registry are indexed under Paresthesia; 14 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 32 is below the median of 48 across 52 interventional studies indexed under Paresthesia.

Browse Paresthesia studies →

Lead sponsor

University of California, San Francisco is the lead sponsor of 2,169 studies on the registry; 372 are open to participants now.

Of its 267 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 202 (76%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Up to 45 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Must be undergoing bilateral sagittal split osteotomy surgery with Dr. Saghezchi at UCSF
  • Must agree to return for all follow up visits.
  • Must not have any preexisting V3 nerve paresthesia
  • Must be below the age of 45.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Persons with preexisting V3 nerve paresthesias
  • Pre-pubertal children will be excluded (per routine practice for this type of surgery).
  • Patients with syndromic genetic conditions that demonstrate clearly different anatomy in the two sides of their jaws will be excluded since the two sides may not be "exchangeable".
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
32 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Placebo comparator
    Reciprocating saw

    The traditional surgical instrument used for cutting bilateral sagittal split osteotomies

    Device: Reciprocating saw

  • Active comparator
    Sonopet ultrasonic saw

    This instrument is being compared to the reciprocating saw

    Device: Sonopet ultrasonic saw

Interventions

  • DeviceSonopet ultrasonic saw

    Ultrasonic saw to be used on a randomized side of the mandible, reciprocating saw will be used on other side

  • DeviceReciprocating saw

    See above description

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Postoperative Hypoesthesia Experienced at 3months

    Count of patient mandibles who exhibited \*\*any\*\* hypoesthesia at 3months post-operation (i.e. VFH does not equal 0.008g). VFH filaments measure the minimum weight which a dermatome in question can sense. In this study, the measurements were designed to have the following range: 0.008g, 0.02g, 0.04g, 0.07g, 0.16g, 0.4g, 0.6g, 1g, 1.4g, 2g, 4g, 6g, 8g, 10g, 15g, with 0.008g being no neurosensory deficit. Although 28 persons completed the study, only 21 patients presented for their 3 month followup time, which was defined as with-in 15 days of 90th day after operation. Therefore, the denominator for this outcome is 21, for each intervention arm. The numerator is the number of Left or Right chin areas that exhibited less than "normal" sensation.

    Time frame: Within 15 days of exact 3 months post-operation

Secondary outcomes

  1. Unfavorable Fracture

    When a saggital split osteotomy is performed, a controlled fracture of the mandibular ramus is induced which follows an exact intended path of fracture. An unfavorable fracture is one that does not follow this exact path of fracture, and needs to be surgically mended. An unfavorable fracture is associated with poorer post-operative recovery.

    Time frame: This outcome occurs during the surgery. It was measured on the same day.

07

Results

Posted Jun 4, 2025
Limitations and caveats
Given the relatively few secondary outcome occurrences, unfavorable mandibular fractures, which occurred in 2/28 in the reciprocating saw arm and 0/28 in the ultrasonic saw arm, it is not possible to meaningfully interpret the findings for the secondary outcome.

Participant flow

Please note that since this is a pair-matched "split-mouth" study, where each participant was in both arms of the study since their left and right mandibles were the units receiving the different interventions in the study. Therefore, the total persons enrolled was 32 persons, while the total mandibles enrolled was 64.

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneReciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic Saw
Started3232
Completed2828
Not completed44
Withdrew: Lost to follow-up44

Outcome measures

PrimaryPostoperative Hypoesthesia Experienced at 3months

Count of patient mandibles who exhibited \*\*any\*\* hypoesthesia at 3months post-operation (i.e. VFH does not equal 0.008g). VFH filaments measure the minimum weight which a dermatome in question can sense. In this study, the measurements were designed to have the following range: 0.008g, 0.02g, 0.04g, 0.07g, 0.16g, 0.4g, 0.6g, 1g, 1.4g, 2g, 4g, 6g, 8g, 10g, 15g, with 0.008g being no neurosensory deficit. Although 28 persons completed the study, only 21 patients presented for their 3 month followup time, which was defined as with-in 15 days of 90th day after operation. Therefore, the denominator for this outcome is 21, for each intervention arm. The numerator is the number of Left or Right chin areas that exhibited less than "normal" sensation.

Time frame:
Within 15 days of exact 3 months post-operation
Reported as:
Count of units · Left or Right Chin Area
Postoperative Hypoesthesia Experienced at 3months
Left or Right Chin AreaReciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic Saw
Postoperative Hypoesthesia Experienced at 3months83
SecondaryUnfavorable Fracture

When a saggital split osteotomy is performed, a controlled fracture of the mandibular ramus is induced which follows an exact intended path of fracture. An unfavorable fracture is one that does not follow this exact path of fracture, and needs to be surgically mended. An unfavorable fracture is associated with poorer post-operative recovery.

Time frame:
This outcome occurs during the surgery. It was measured on the same day.
Reported as:
Count of units · Mandibular rami
Unfavorable Fracture
Mandibular ramiReciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic Saw
Unfavorable Fracture20

Adverse events

Collected over At a minimum each participant who was not lost to follow up was followed for three months (defined as 85 - 115 days) after their operation. However, patients were followed as long as they return for assessment of their orthognathic surgery. The follow up of participants who completed the study ranged from 85 days to 419 days.. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Reciprocating Saw0/28 (0%)0/28 (0%)4/28 (14.3%)
Sonopet Ultrasonic Saw0/28 (0%)0/28 (0%)1/28 (3.6%)
Most frequent other events
Most frequent other events
EventReciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic Saw
Transaction of Inferior Alveolar Nerve (IAN), which provides sensation to the chin areaSurgical and medical procedures4/281/28

Baseline characteristics

Each study participant was assigned to both study arms, while only one of their two mandibular rami was assigned to that study arm, and received that treatment. Since 4 persons were lost to followup, the baseline participants groups only contains 28 persons.

Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Reciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic SawTotal
Mean25.95 ± 9.825.95 ± 9.825.95 ± 9.8
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Reciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic SawTotal
Female151530
Male131326
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Race/Ethnicity, Customized(Participants)Reciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic SawTotal
Caucasian131326
African American112
Latinx8816
Asian6612
Normal Baseline VFH Score (Lightest VFH Filament sensed has a weight of 0.008g)
Normal Baseline VFH Score (Lightest VFH Filament sensed has a weight of 0.008g)(Mandibular Rami)Reciprocating SawSonopet Ultrasonic SawTotal
Count of units232245
08

Study locations

2 sites
  • University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
    San Francisco, California 94143, United States
  • UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
    San Francisco, California 94158, United States
09

References and documents

Study documents

PDFs hosted by the registry, ClinicalTrials.gov.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

10

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 4, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
11

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05205616
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 25, 2022
Start date
Jul 20, 2021
Primary completion
Jul 25, 2023
Completion
Jul 25, 2023
Results posted
Jun 4, 2025
Last update
Jun 4, 2025

Study contacts

Sohail Saghezchi, DDS, MD
principal investigator · UC San Francisco

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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