Incidence of Frontal Sinus Fractures: A Single-Institution 12-year Experience

Frontal sinus fractures' reported incidence has varied widely in the United States. Although the past couple of decades have demonstrated an overall decrease among patients with facial fractures, the overall incidence of frontal sinus fractures remains unclear. We report our experience at a level 1 trauma center in the northeast region of the United States and analyze patients who have presented to our Emergency Department with facial fractures in a 12-year period, from 2011 to 2022. Our data show that 1.5% of all facial fracture patients had a frontal sinus fracture. Of those patients, 50% were victims of assault, 25% were involved in a motor vehicle accident, 12.5% were involved in a bicycle accident, and 12.5% were involved in a pedestrian struck by a vehicle. Overall, our data corroborate the decreasing national trend in frontal sinus fracture incidence and set the stage for further studies looking at the contributing factors for the observed decline.