Incidence of Maxillofacial Injuries in the Emergency Department-Retrospective Study

Maxillofacial injuries are a common finding among the patients reporting to the Emergency Department.

This study was conducted to evaluate the occurrence and characteristics of Oral and Maxillofacial injuries among the patients who reported to the Emergency Department at Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bengaluru.

The study was carried out retrospectively by analysing the medical records of patients who were presented with maxillofacial injuries, under the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery over a period of nine years. A total of 2831 patients were evaluated and segregated into different age groups. Standardized data was gathered on the number and location of lacerations, abrasions, fractures of facial bones, associated head injuries and treatment done.

It was found that the majority of the maxillofacial injuries reported to the emergency department are soft tissue injuries comprising of 71.49% of total cases among which 55.77% cases were with single or multiple lacerations and 15.72% cases with abrasions alone. The most common cause of facial injuries is road traffic accidents 56.8% followed by self-fall (33.8%) and assault (5.837%). The most common site of occurrence of laceration was noted to be forehead laceration (13.2%) followed by chin (10.97%), supraorbital (9.44%), upper lip (8.1%) and lower lip (5.97%). Among the fracture cases, Mid-facial fracture occurred in 58.84%, followed by mandibular fractures at 20.86% being the next most common occurrence.

The results and understanding obtained from this study will be utilized to develop focused treatments for reducing the severity and frequency of maxillofacial trauma. Further, we believe that public awareness campaigns about enhanced safety measures can reduce the occurrence of maxillofacial injuries.