Patterns and characteristics of maxillofacial fractures in women

Abstract

Purpose Facial trauma in women is complex with physical, psychosocial, and cultural influences impacting clinical presentations. Although multifactorial, assaults and falls are principally reported as the main causes. Methods A retrospective review was conducted from January 2012 to January 2017 at the Women and Children’s Hospital and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide. All maxillofacial fractures in women that attended or were referred to the unit were included in this study. The primary objective was to analyse epidemiological trends of facial fractures and clinical outcomes in the South Australian female population. Results There is a bimodal distribution of facial fractures at 25–35 years and 65 + years. Indigenous females were 19.5 years younger than non-indigenous females (30.5 vs 49.9, P < 0.001). Approximately half the cohort had a fall-related facial fracture, followed by assault (26.2%), and sports (10.3%). There was a higher proportion of non-alcohol-related trauma from assaults than alcohol-related assaults (72.5% vs 27.5%, P < 0.001). Over half (58.0%) of the cohort had a midface fracture. The elderly had increased odds of 1.9 fold for facial fractures in winter, largely from falls, compared to younger women. Associated injuries were present in almost half the elderly women with 2.6 times the risk compared to younger women. Younger women had higher incidences of surgical intervention (52.6% vs 14.3%, P < 0.05). Conclusions Young women disproportionately experience larger incidences of non-alcohol-related assaults requiring operative intervention of the mandible, whereas elderly women principally suffer fall-related facial fractures with higher rates of associated injuries.

The aetiology of maxillofacial trauma in Australia: A scoping review

“…Articles were primarily eliminated here due to not being based in Australia, being conducted, or published prior to 1982, not being in English, or irrelevant to the topic. The full‐text screen excluded the remaining 106 articles for a total of 31 eligible studies to be included 16–46 . Screened articles at this stage were mainly excluded due to superficial analysis of epidemiological characteristics or because the studies would measure management protocols of OMF injuries rather than prevalence or aetiology.…”

“…This included zygomatic fractures (1 study) mandibular fractures (7 studies) and dentoalveolar injuries (4 studies) (note: Martin et al 46 assessed injuries at two different sites, hence was tabulated into two separate data sets). Four studies assessed OMF injury incidence and aetiologies in specific populations: two studies 23,43 assessed paediatric populations and one study each assessed a geriatric 33 and female 16 population. Five studies assessed OMF injuries from specific aetiologies: the commonest aetiologies specifically assessed were sport 28,45 (two studies) and animal‐related 22,31,37 (three studies) OMF injuries.…”

Three-Dimensional Finite Element Analysis on Mandibular Biomechanics Simulation under Normal and Traumatic Conditions

“…Among the primary causes were reported: assaults and falls, but also occupational factors or sports [8,9]. Males were more affected than females (60% vs. 39.4%) [8,10].…”

Epidemiological aspects of facial trauma in a third level hospital in Mexico

“…Falls (2.6 times) than men, with a higher risk of facial fracture. 6 However, according to reports in the clinical literature that interpersonal violence and sports injuries are the major cause in societies with more developed economies. 7 Not only demographic characteristics condition the risk of fracture, it has also been described that alcohol consumption represents an important risk factor for the epidemiology of trauma, since it increases the risk of interpersonal violence and automobile accidents.…”