Incidence, pattern, etiology of facial fractures among two referral centers (retrospective cross-sectional study)

Abstract

Facial injuries are considered as a part of injuries in human body [1] . Facial injury defined as injury of face including major and minor injuries of the soft tissue , bone , blood vessels and nerves . [1,2] Maxillofacial injuries following trauma to head and neck region could lead to medical emergencies as blood loss and airway obstruction . [1][2][3] Maxillofacial injuries constitute one of the major health problems worldwide. [4] Each year about 5.8 million people globally die from trauma or may be disabled. It's predicted to become one of the top 20 causes leading to death worldwide by 2030. For people under 44 years of age, trauma is already among the top three causes of death. [5] Maxillofacial injuries may result in loss of function , disfigurement , psychological problems to the extent of disability and death. [6] In addition to facial bones , soft tissue injuries of head and neck and dentoalveolar fractures , maxillofacial fractures can occur isolated or in combination with cranial , spinal , upper and lower body injuries . [7] Major or minor trauma can be assessed using injury severity score (ISS). [8] An ISS of ≥ 16 is the cutoff for major trauma, and this is calculated by summing up the scores of the three most severe injuries a patient sustains. Management of head and neck trauma is a complex procedure because it often requires input from a wide variety of surgical disciplines as maxillofacial surgery, plastic surgery and neurosurgery. [9,10] There are various causes of maxillofacial injuries, road traffic accident and interpersonal violence are the most common causes of maxillofacial injuries. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] It's followed by sports , occupational related injuries , falls , domestic accidents , terrorism and war. [18][19][20][21][22][23] The mandible is the most primary bone involved in maxillofacial fractures, condyle and para-symphysis are the most commonly affected sites in patients with mandibular fractures. [11] Risk factors of maxillofacial fractures including age, sex and etiology varies depending on geographical , social , cultural , traffic volume , preventive measures , economic and environmental factors. [24,25] Understanding incidence , etiology , pattern helps to evaluate the behavior patterns of people in various countries and different social cultures as well as establish proper prevention and treatment strategy. [26] The management of cranio-maxillofacial trauma include facial bone fractures , dentoalveolar fractures , soft tissue lacerations and associated injuries mainly of head and