Objective: This study was aimed to analyze retrospectively the demographic data, incidence, etiology and different treatment modalities of maxillofacial fractures in patients managed at Al-Noor Hospital-Trauma Center, Makkah City, Saudi Arabia during a 2-year period.
Patients and Methods: A total of 223 patients with maxillofacial trauma referred to and diagnosed at the Maxillofacial Department, Al-Noor hospital, Makkah City between December 2010 and November 2012 were assessed in this retrospective study according to their age, sex, etiology, medical/dental history, chief complaint, site and distribution of facial fractures, in addition to the definitive diagnosis and treatment of the case. Data of each patient were collected on a sheet and then transferred to an SPSS (ver. 16.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) spreadsheet for statistical analysis. The chi-square test was used to test the association between two categorical variables or factors
Results: In these 2-years retrospective study, the reported cases of the maxillofacial trauma were most frequent in males (84.8%) than females (15.2%), and the affected decay was 21-30 (37.2%). Motor Vehicle crashes were the most common etiology among all assessed cases, except in those with age < 10 years whereby fall was the most frequent cause. The majority of cases were mandible fractures (46.6%), particularly ramus followed by the angle and the body of the mandible. Extremities trauma (16.6%) and other associated traumas were also reported. Among the 223 referred patients, survival rate was 97.8%, and the most applied treatment was open reduction and internal fixation (59.3%) followed by closed reduction and internal fixation (22.0%).
Conclusion: These findings support the view that the incidence of maxillofacial fractures secondary to motor accidents is common in Saudi Arabia, particularly among males, perhaps as a result of the conservative nature of Saudi society, as the rules of Saudi Arabia do not allow the females to drive during research performing. Therefore, we recommend the high demand for the application of stricter traffic rules and to ensure strict compliance of these traffic regulations to reduce the rate of MVC.