Support System of Doctor’s Decision-Making on the Choice of a Method for Treating Fractures of the Midface Area

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to develop a support system of doctor’s decision-making on the choice of a method for treating fractures of the midface are. Materials and methods. The study includes the results of examination and treatment of 112 patients with fractures of the midface area, who were undergoing inpatient treatment in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery of the Municipal Noncommercial Enterprise of Kharkiv Regional Council «Regional Clinical Hospital», Kharkiv. All patients at hospitalization underwent examination according to the local protocol. The diagnosis was based on the results of cone-beam computed tomography, or multislice computed tomography. To determine the initial condition, as well as to assess the functional and cosmetic effects in the treatment process (1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th days) a visual analogue scale was used, at hospitalization we also used a visual analogue scale modified by us, which contains a point evaluation of the patient's condition for 12 signs of trauma. The Scilab computer algebra system was used to develop models for predicting the results of treatment of the midface area fractures using various methods, and a graphical application for the Windows operating system was developed for the practical use of the support system of doctor’s decision-making, in which the Sugeno fuzzy inference machine was integrated into the developed models Results and discussion. To predict the displacement of bone fragments that will remain after the surgery, the following indicators and signs were used: the nature of the fracture, the presence of paraesthesia in the infraorbital area, the presence of hemosinus; method of treatment; indicator by the modified visual analogue scale. To predict the indicator on a visual analogue scale a day after the surgery, the following indicators and signs were used: the nature of the fracture, the presence of paraesthesia in the infraorbital area, the presence of hemosinus; method of treatment, the number of plates in the case of metal osteosynthesis, the indicator by a visual analogue scale before surgery. To predict indicators by a visual analogue scale in the subsequent terms, the values of indicators by this scale in the previous terms are added to the input indicators of the model. Conclusion. As a result of the research it was found that the following can be used as the functional and cosmetic results of treatment of the midface area fracture in the development of predicting models: the amount of displacement of bone fragments, which was determined by computed tomography after surgery, and the values of indicators by a visual analogue scale after a day, 3, 5 and 7 days after surgery. The developed models for predicting functional and cosmetic results of treatment as a result of testing using indicators of 112 patients with fractures of the midface area showed an overall accuracy of 91.6%, sensitivity – 95%, specificity –96.4%.