Maxillofacial injuries in motorcyclists following the implementation of helmet

Abstract

Background:It has been reported that 20%–60% of all people injured in road traffic accidents (RTAs) tend to have some form of maxillofacial injury. Mangalore city, Karnataka State, India, traffic police has enforced the law to wear helmets to tackle the problem. The outcome of the initiative till date was not measured. Therefore, the objective of the study was to assess the prevalence of maxillofacial injuries among the victims of motorized two-wheeler RTAs, following the passing of the helmet law.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted at the Accident and Emergency Department of K.S. Hegde Medical College and Hospital and at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Nitte (Deemed to be University), Mangalore, Karnataka, India. The inclusion criteria were the patients who had two-wheeler accidents during the time period of 2016–2017 was collected. The data related to age, gender, helmet wearing, diagnosis, and type of orthopedic injuries was included. A descriptive statistics was calculated along with 95% confidence interval; correlation coefficient and odds ratio using STATA software.Results:A total of N = 347 individuals were included in the study. The mean age of the individuals was 33.7 (2–85) years, and the median age was 32 years. 81.55% (N = 283) were male and 18.44% (N = 64) were female. Among the individuals, 51.5% (N = 179) were not wearing helmets and 44.38% (N = 154) of them were males. A total of 25.07 (N = 87) individuals had orthopedic injuries and 16.42% (N = 57) individuals had orthopedic injuries who were not wearing helmets.Conclusion:Under the limitations of the study, we conclude that majority of the two-wheelers are not wearing helmets. This study has demonstrated that the impact of wearing helmet on occurrence of craniofacial and orthopedic injuries is less.

Associated Injuries in Patients with Maxillofacial Trauma at Dhaka Dental College Hospital by Motorcycle Accident

“…Children and older individuals are less frequently affected. Several studies 4,5 reported similar findings.…”

Predictors of Facial Fractures in Trauma Patients: Retrospective Review at a Level I Trauma Center

“…Enacting and enforcing stricter laws mandating helmet use has been shown to reduce the incidence of maxillofacial trauma among crashes and further reduce the proportion that result in facial fractures. [18][19][20] Alternatively, relaxing such laws saw a decrease in helmet use resulting in an increased incidence of head trauma and related trauma. 21 When a patient presents following an assault, a facial fracture should be an immediate concern.…”