Faciomaxillary trauma in road traffic accident cases in northern India: A hospital-based descriptive study

Abstract

Road traffic accidents (RTA) cause severe facial injuries, among others. A good number of those cases among accidents and emergency departmental casualties account for faciomaxillary injuries of medico-legal importance in developing countries requiring different surgical interventions. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the pattern of facio-maxillary injuries secondary to RTA for better preparedness for emergency medical care. It was a retrospective study based on the hospital medical records of 900 patients who attended emergency services from September 2018 to September 2021 with faciomaxillary injuries with RTA history. The diagnosis was made based on the clinical presentations and radiological investigations. Out of 900 cases of RTA involving faciomaxillary injuries, the highest incidence was found among the age groups of 21–40, with an average of 44.4% with a male and female ratio of 1.6:1. Soft tissue injuries predominated with 72.2% of cases, followed by nasal bone fractures (55.5%). Most RTA cases were reported in October (16.0%). The involvement of two-wheelers was observed in 50% of cases. A gradual rise of facio-maxillary instances were observed during the study period, with 250 cases in 2018–2019 to 450 cases in 2020–2021. The gradual climb of cases of faciomaxillary injuries following RTA in this underdeveloped part of India alarm the urgent attention of all concerned. The reasons are multifaced, and the involvement of young people also reflects the vulnerability of the hazardous exposure of society's most productive age group that needs to be prevented.