Use of ultrasound, color Doppler imaging and radiography to monitor periapical healing after endodontic surgery.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of ultrasound, color Doppler imaging and conventional radiography in monitoring the post-surgical healing of periapical lesions of endodontic origin. Fifteen patients who underwent periapical surgery for endodontic pathology were randomly selected. In all patients, periapical lesions were evaluated preoperatively using ultrasound, color Doppler imaging and conventional radiography, to analyze characteristics such as size, shape and dimensions. On radiographic evaluation, dimensions were measured in the superoinferior and mesiodistal direction using image-analysis software. Ultrasound evaluation was used to measure the changes in shape and dimensions on the anteroposterior, superoinferior, and mesiodistal planes. Color Doppler imaging was used to detect the blood-flow velocity. Postoperative healing was monitored in all patients at 1 week and 6 months by using ultrasound and color Doppler imaging, together with conventional radiography. The findings were then analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of the 3 imaging techniques. At 6 months, ultrasound and color Doppler imaging were significantly better than conventional radiography in detecting changes in the healing of hard tissue at the surgical site (P < 0.004). This study demonstrates that ultrasound and color Doppler imaging have the potential to supplement conventional radiography in monitoring the post-surgical healing of periapical lesions of endodontic origin.