[Facial fractures. A life style disease among young men?]

Interpersonal violence is often initiated by offensive verbal and visual expressions. Physical violence will therefore often be directed towards the face of the opponent. A retrospective analysis of 1,273 maxillofacial fractures at the University Hospital in Tromsø during the period 1987-95 showed a steady occurrence of cases. A prospective study of 162 maxillofacial fractures at Ostfold Central Hospital in 1993 was compared with the material from Tromsø. In both studies half of the patients were young men. Males aged 15-29 years were involved seven to eight times more frequently than the rest of the population. Violence among young men under the influence of alcohol was the predominant cause of the fractures. Young male assault victims often started the fight or actively encouraged it. "Participant" is often a more appropriate term than "victim". Some of those involved relapse into a lifestyle inflicting recurrent maxillofacial fractures. Domestic violence involving females is often disguised as accidents. Alternative methods of solving conflicts should replace the offending behaviour to prevent maxillofacial fractures.