Relationship of substance abuse to complications with mandibular fractures

Complications of Mandibular Fracture: Study of the Treatment Methods in Calabar, Nigeria

“…In both closed reduction and conservative methods, occlusal derangement and deviation on mouth opening were the most common complications following treatment. This is similar to the report of Passeri et al (19), but differs from that of Worsaae and Thorn (8) who recorded nerve dysfunction. These complications and sometimes infection and non-union are related to the mobility of the fractured segments after treatment (24).…”

“…The conservative treatment result of 17.2% is within the range of 15.0% to 29.0% earlier reported (4, 9) but higher than that obtained by Worsaae and Thorn (8) who recorded 4.0%, although their studies were restricted to patients with only condylar fractures, unlike the present study. The figure of 20.7% obtained with open reduction is within the range of 3.8 to 40.0% earlier documented (18,19). It is higher than the 17.0% obtained by Nakamura et al (10) but lower than the 60.0% result of Hyde et al (20).…”

A comparison of outcomes between immediate and delayed repair of mandibular fractures

“…Passeri et al (9) report 64% of patients in their study had a history of chronic alcohol or drug abuse, with a postsurgical complication rate for chronic alcohol abuse, nonintravenous drug use and intravenous drug use of 15.5%, 19.2% and 30%, respectively. On the other hand, patients who did not report any substance abuse had a 6.2% complication rate (9). Billar et al (13) reported only 34.5% of their patients were substance free.…”

“…Regardless, complications from mandible fractures often develop, including infections, hardware exposure, nonunion and jaw pain. Many studies have shown that these complications can often be attributed to many factors including poor patient compliance, substance abuse, and inadequate stabilization or reduction (5)(6)(7)(8)(9).…”

Substance Use and Facial Injury

“…Serena-Gomez and Passeri [28] found that patients consuming significant rates of alcohol per day had compromised recovery because: (1) this level of alcohol use suppresses T-cell counts and affects the body's responses in terms of cell migration, adhesion, and signal transduction; (2) the production of T cells is also affected, making the body more susceptible to bacterial colonization and subsequent infection; and (3) alcohol consumption negatively affected protein production-particularly collagen-and ultimately, wound healing. Of note, Passeri et al [36] reported that patients using intravenous or nonintravenous drugs presented with postsurgical mandibular-fracture complications (ranging from 30 -37.5% and 14.2 to 19%, respectively). Insufficient nutrition may also play a part in the recovery process of patients reporting alcohol abuse, [37] impacting both soft tissue and osseous healing.…”