Maxillofacial Injury Severity Score: proposal of a new scoring system

In this study a new injury severity score system, the Maxillofacial Injury Severity Score (MFISS), was developed to evaluate the characteristics of injury from maxillofacial trauma. Nine hundred and two cases of maxillofacial trauma were included in this study to evaluate injury severity using the MFISS, which was designed on the basis of Abbreviated Injury Scale, 1990 revision (AIS-90), and defined as the product of the sum of the three highest maxillofacial AIS scores and the sum of the injury severity scores for three maxillofacial functional parameters, malocclusion (MO), limited mouth opening (LMO), and facial deformity (FD). The correlation analysis was undertaken with the dependent factor of cost and number of days of stay in hospital. The results demonstrated a significant difference (P < 0.01) between bone and soft-tissue injuries and among various regional fractures. There was correlation (P < 0.01) between the MFISS and the cost of treatment and days of stay in hospital. The newly established MFISS thus characterizes maxillofacial injury severity while reflecting the management costs and treatment complexity.