Descriptive and Surgical Analysis of 196 Cases of Traumatic Maxillofacial Fractures: An experience of 6 years

Abstract

Aims To analyze the etiology, anatomical pattern, and management of upper, midface, and lower face fractures pertaining to our demography and compare our results with other regions and worldwide. Materials and methods A 6-year retrospective record analysis from 2013 to 2018 of eligible patients’ data was recorded with a prepared proforma. Demographic parameters including age, sex, etiology, anatomical site, closed or open, displaced or un displaced fracture, type of treatment, associated with head injury, and implants used were evaluated. Inclusion criteria were all patients with facial bone fractures irrespective of age and gender. Exclusion criteria were patients with pure soft tissue injury of the face and with facial burns. Results Most were involved with multiple facial bone fractures. Out of 196, 72 patients (pts) had involvement of mandible fractures, 79 had involvement of the maxilla, 65 zygoma, 68 nasal bone, 42 orbital wall, 21 frontal bone with processes, and 7 NOE involvement. The most frequent etiologic factor was detected to be road traffic accidents (RTA; 162 ,83%), due to falling (24, 12%), and assault (10, 5%). In total, 173 were male (88%) and the rest 23 were female (12%). The mean age was found to be 29 years. Twelve patients (6.1%) were less than 14 years of age. Most RTAs had occurred in young adults from 16 to 30 years of age group. We analyzed individual bone fracture involvement and compared it with other geographical locations. Conclusions Most facial fractures are combined involving multiple bones in young adults with RTA as the most common etiology. There was a balance seen in managing the facial fractures between conservative and operative methods. These data provide us the information in evaluation of the preventive measures to be taken and give the direction of focusing the clinical and research priority in the future.