Etiology and patterns of pediatric maxillofacial fractures: A retrospective analysis at a tertiary level health-care center in Bangladesh

Abstract

Introduction: We intended to retrospectively analyze the epidemiological data and pattern of pediatric maxillofacial fractures in this article. Materials and Methods: This retrospective analysis focuses on patients under the age of 18 years who were admitted to an inpatient department with maxillofacial fractures over a 3-year time at a Bangladeshi tertiary health-care center. The following variables were assessed: gender distribution, etiology of trauma, and anatomic site of fractures. Results: The majority of the 90 patients were boys (77.78%), with an average age of 12.9 years (standard deviation, 4.51 years). The result showed a ratio of 3.5:1 between males and females. The majority of patients (56.67%) were between the ages of 13 and 18 years. There was no statistically meaningful relationship (P > 0.05) between the age of the patients and their gender. Road traffic accidents (RTAs; 75.56% of maxillofacial fractures) were the most common cause, followed by accidental falls (13.33%). Mandible fractures were the most prevalent (70%), followed by zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC; 14.45%) and mid-face fractures (5.55%). The parasymphysis (17.78%) and body (16.68%) of the mandible were the two most common unilateral fracture sites. Parasymphysis with angle was the most typical set of fracture sites in the mandible (7.79%). There was no statistically significant (P > 0.05) correlation between the age of the patients and the location of the maxillofacial fracture. Conclusions: In Bangladesh, RTAs were the predominant reason for pediatric maxillofacial fractures. The mandible and ZMC were the two areas that fractured most frequently in the pediatric population.