Maxillofacial fractures due to work-related accidents

Abstract

One hundred and three patients with maxillofacial fractures due to work-related accidents were analysed. Ninety-nine patients (96.1%) were male and 4 (3.9%) were female. The average age was 46.8 years (range 18–75 years). The injuries were most commonly sustained during construction (42 patients, 40.8%) followed by agriculture and forestry (31 patients, 30.1%) and manufacturing (15 patients, 14.6%). Being struck by an object was the main cause of injury (43 patients, 41.7%) followed by fall from one level to another (31 patients, 30.1%). Fifty-four patients (52.4%) had fractures in the mandible, 41 (39.8%) in the midface, and 8 (7.8%) in both the mandible and the midface. The most common sites for fractures were the condyle and symphysis in the mandible and zygoma in the midface. The facial injury severity scale ranged from 1 to 6 with an average of 1.99 ± 1.18. There was no difference in the nature of the work being undertaken or the cause of the injury. Fractures in other sites were observed in 22 patients (21.4%). Open reduction and fixation was the most frequent treatment for mandibular fractures (25 patients, 40.3%) followed by maxillomandibular fixation (19 patients, 30.6%). Observation was most commonly used for midface fractures (18 patients, 36.7%) followed by open reduction and fixation (15 patients, 30.6%) and transcutaneous reduction (8 patients, 16.3%).