Assessment of Facial Sensory Disorders among Trauma Patients with Jaw Fracture in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

  Clinical bone fractures are very important and can cause sensory disorders in patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate facial sensory disorders in the diffusion areas of inferior alveolar nerve and infraorbital nerve following open reduction and internal fixation in trauma cases with jaw fractures. This longitudinal study was conducted on a total of 100 patients referred to oral and maxillofacial department or trauma center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (Rajaee Hospital) from October 2015 to March 2017. These cases were selected through accessible sampling method. This study was performed using orientation test, thermal test, and distinction test between the two points to evaluate sensory disorders. Descriptive statistics (i.e., percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation) was utilized to analyze the data and Chi-square test was employed to test the hypotheses. The findings of the present study indicated that there was not a significant relationship between infraorbital nerve disorder and inferior alveolar nerve disorder with the patient’s age in the periodic examinations (i.e., before the surgery, two weeks after the surgery, and three and six months after the surgery). However, a significant relationship was observed between nerve disorder and inferior nerve disturbance with the amount of displacement and the interval of therapeutic interventions in follow-up examinations in the six months. The results of this study showed that in maxillofacial traumas, in bone fractures located at nerve canal, as the amount of bone displacement and interval trauma and open surgery for fixation was greater, sensory effects caused by the diffusion of infra-orbital nerve disorder and alveolar nerve disorder in the mandibular canal would be more.