A Five-year Study (2014-2019) of the Etiology and Prevalence of Maxillofacial Fractures in Children Referring to Imam Khomeini Hospital of Ahvaz (2014-2019)

Facial fractures in children are unusual injuries that make up to 15% of facial fractures. Although maxillofacial trauma is more common in children than in adults, the incidence of facial fractures is lower. Epidemiology and etiology of facial fractures vary from country to country, and depend largely on economic group, culture, and geographical area. Maxillofacial fractures are the most common type of facial fractures.

This 5-year (2014-2019) retrospective observational-descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed among pediatric patients (1 to 12 years old) referring to the maxillofacial surgery department of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz (due to trauma and jaw fracture). The indicators included age, sex, time, cause of fracture, fracture position, type of fracture, and existence of accompanying fracture.

Based on the results obtained in this study, 32.7% of the participants were girls and 67.3% were boys. The most common causes of jaw fractures were MVA (63.4%) and falling (25%). The highest frequency of jaw fracture due to trauma (17.3%) was at the age of 12 years followed by the ages of 9 and 10 years (15.4%). The highest rate of jaw fracture due to trauma in children (1 to 12 years) was in summer (32.7%). The results of this study show that the most common type of fractures was in the mandible (87.5%) which was more reported in males. The most common treatments used were close reduction (67.3%) and ORIF (26.9%).

The results of this study show that the most common type of fractures are in the mandible and more in men. The highest rate of fractures was reported between the ages of 8 to 12 years. This study showed that the highest percentages of the cause of jaw fractures were MVA and falling, respectively. Also, the highest percentage of hydrotherapy methods used were close reduction and ORIF.