Incidence and Pattern of Cranio-Maxillofacial Injuries: A 22 year Retrospective Analysis of Cases Operated at Major Trauma Hospitals/Centres in Pune, India

Abstract

This study aims to retrospectively analyze the incidence and pattern of cranio-maxillofacial injuries in the developing world in a hope to emphasize on authorities the need of improvising infrastructural facilities, medical and other. Hospital medical records with available radiographs of 6,872 patients treated for cranio-maxillofacial injuries at major trauma centres in Pune, India over a 22 year period (from July 1989 to June 2010) were reviewed. Relevant data pertaining to patients' age, sex, cause of injury, sites of injury, associated injuries, anaesthesia, various treatment modalities and complications were recorded and analyzed statistically. A total of 6,872 patients sustained maxillofacial injuries of which 5,936 (86.4 %) were caused by road traffic accidents (RTA), followed by fall in 608 cases. Distribution pattern of sex revealed male predominance (M:F-2.5:1) and the third decade age group (2,416) sustained maximum cranio-maxillofacial injuries. Of 12,503 cranio-maxillofacial sites involved, mandible (6,456) predominated, while there was middle third involvement in 5,024 cases. Most of the patients (4,856) were treated with open reduction and internal fixation without maxillo-mandibular fixation and complications were noted in 320 patients. In comparison to similar recent studies reported in the literature, our findings show that RTA remains the most common cause of cranio-maxillofacial injuries with male preponderance. Also RTA remains the major preventable etiological factor of cranio-maxillofacial injuries, which should prompt authorities to take "Herculean effort" to implement rules and educate people.

Maxillofacial Fractures in Bhopal, India: Analytic Study of 1268 Cases

“…But some western studies have also recognized assault as the leading cause [17,18]. In the present study RTA was the single highest contributing factor, similar to various studies conducted in various states of India [6,8,9,16,19]. In the studies from developed countries like Greece [20], New Zealand [21], United Kingdom [22] RTA as the causative factor was found to be low.…”

“…Most of the studies have attributed RTA as accounting for maximum maxillofacial injuries [6,14,16]. But some western studies have also recognized assault as the leading cause [17,18].…”

Incidence and etiology of maxillofacial trauma: a retrospective analysis of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital in the past decade

“…Associated injuries were found in 28.9% of patients with maxillofacial fracture (368 of 1,275 cases) and comprised head injury in 58% of patients, thoracic injury in 24%, abdominal injury in 8%, pelvic injury in 6%, and C-spine injury in 4%, as shown in Figure 2, corresponding to the studies of Chalya et al [3] and Gadre et al [4] who found that head injuries occurred in 53.1% and 56% of patients with maxillofacial trauma, respectively. Head injuries are the most commonly associated injuries because the forces that can cause facial bone fractures might also cause brain injuries.…”

“…These results show that men are at a higher risk of maxillofacial injuries than women. [3][4][5][6] and in contrast with the study of Boonkasem et al [2] that found that the number of patients in each age group was not different (~19%). However, the study by Boonkasem et al included only 210 patients and was conducted in a rural area, whereas our study was conducted in a trauma center in an urban area.…”

Maxillo-facial Trauma: Epidemiological Study and Legal Implications

“…However, assaults are not the only mechanism causing isolated maxillofacial injuries. In fact, many other studies reported that assaults ranked after road traffic accident [8].…”