Piezoelectric surgery: twenty years of use.

The use of ultrasonic vibrations for the cutting of bone was first introduced two decades ago. Piezoelectric surgery is a minimally invasive technique that lessens the risk of damage to surrounding soft tissues and important structures such as nerves, vessels, and mucosa. It also reduces damage to osteocytes and permits good survival of bony cells during harvesting of bone. Piezoelectric surgery was first used by oral and maxillofacial surgeons for osteotomies, but recently some specific applications in neurosurgery and orthopaedics have been proposed. We review the different applications of piezoelectric surgery.