Updates on the Epidemiology and Pattern of Traumatic Maxillofacial Injuries in a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital: A 12-Month Prospective Cohort In-Hospital Outcome Study

Abstract

Many studies have been undertaken in Nigeria on maxillofacial trauma. However, only a few have considered both the skeletal and soft tissue injuries (in general) involving all the aspects of the maxillofacial region or considered other etiological sources of trauma apart from road traffic crashes. Fewer still have reviewed the outcome of management of facial injuries in our low-resource environment. This study sets out to examine the recent trends in both the clinical and epidemiological patterns of all facial injuries from all causes seen in a low-resource practice of a developing country. It also assessed the in-hospital treatment outcomes, and the levels of the patients’ satisfaction with treatment received in this setting. Over a 12-month period, the clinical records of consecutive patients who were evaluated and treated for maxillofacial injuries in our unit were prospectively acquired, entered into predesigned forms and subsequently analyzed. There were 259 patients (79.5% males) during the study period. The mean age was 32.21(± 16.588) years. Overall, motor bike crashes, 42.1%, were the commonest source of these traumas; and armed robbery was the commonest form (69.0%) of assault. Mandibular fractures were the commonest maxillofacial fractures (37.8%) whereas head injury had the highest frequency among the associated injuries (71.4%). Closed reduction and immobilization was deployed in 88.0% of those who had treatment and majority was satisfied with the esthetic outcome of the treatment received. Mean length of hospital stay was 12.6 (± 4.423) days. Maxillofacial trauma poses a significant socioeconomic burden on affected individuals in this study population. This is made worse by the presence of associated injuries in the other body systems. More local studies on the outcome of management of maxillofacial trauma will improve the available literature in this region.