The effectiveness of ultrasound examination to assess the healing process of bone lesions of the jaws: a systematic review

Objective: To assess the potential of ultrasound examination (USE) as an adjunctive method to conventional radiology to evaluate the healing processes occurring after the treatment of bone lesions of the jaws. The research question was: what is the effectiveness of USE to evaluate the healing of intra-osseous bone lesions when compared to radiological or clinical examination?

Materials and methods: Six databases (PubMed, the Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Best Evidence) were searched from their inception (PROSPERO CRD42019134482). A quality assessment was performed combining the Downs and Black tool and the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The risk of bias was calculated using the Cochrane collaboration tool to assess the risk of bias.

Results: A total of 4404 records were screened, and 7 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the systematic review. USE allowed to evaluate the healing of jaw bone lesions by assessing their reduction in size, the increase in echogenicity of the affected area, and the progressive decrease\disappearance of the vascular flow signal within the lesions.

Conclusions: USE implemented with color power Doppler is an advanced imaging technique feasible to monitor the early and long-term response of the intra-osseous lesions of the jaws to both surgical and nonsurgical treatment.

Clinical relevance: This systematic review brought evidence that USE can constitute a safe alternative imaging technique in the dental clinical practice for the management of central lesions of the maxillary bones.