ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Otorinolaringologia 2018 December;68(4):132-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-6621.18.02185-9

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Maxillofacial fractures: epidemiological analysis of a single-center experience

Matteo BRUCOLI ¹, Daniela F. NESTOLA ², Nicola BARAGIOTTA ¹, Paolo BOFFANO ¹ ✉, Arnaldo BENECH ¹

¹ Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Maggiore della Carità University Hospital, Novara, Italy; ² Department of Otolaryngology, Maggiore della Carità University Hospital, Novara, Italy

BACKGROUND: Maxillofacial fractures represent one of the principal cause of hospitalization in the entire world. The correct identification of type of fracture and of its site are important to provide a careful surgical management in order to minimize the functional and aesthetic consequences. Maxillofacial fractures present different etiological and epidemiological characteristics and a continuous analysis is important for monitoring ongoing changes.
METHODS: We present the experience of a single reference center of maxillofacial surgery, regarding 1022 patients treated during the decade 2005-2015, and analyze the etiology of trauma, the type of maxillofacial fracture and the treatment delivered, comparing to what is reported in the literature.
RESULTS: Our results suggest that male gender remains still the most frequent interested gender by fractures. Falls were the main cause of maxillofacial fractures, followed by violence and motor vehicle accidents in this series.
CONCLUSIONS: The internal rigid fixation is nowadays the preferred surgical treatment both for patient, because reduces the healing time with rapid functional recovery, both for surgeons because of its technical advantages.

KEY WORDS: Maxillofacial injuries - Facial nerve injuries - Mandibular fractures - Internal fracture fixation