Profile of mandibular fractures in a tertiary care hospital: Retrospective institutional study

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the distribution, etiology, and type of mandibular fractures in the subjects reported to our institution. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 689 subjects reported during the period from May 2010 to September 2013 with mandibular fractures was conducted. Information on age, gender, mechanism of injury and sites of trauma was obtained from the trauma registry. Data were tabulated and analyzed statistically. Results: A total of 653 subjects had mandibular fractures out of which 574 were males. The mean age of the participants was 31.54 ± 13.07. The majority of the subjects' age were in the range of 21–40, in both males (61.7%) and females (54.4%). The major cause for the fractures was road traffic accidents (87.4%) followed by fall (6.9%), assault (4%) with least being gunshot injuries (0.3%). Almost half of the patients had parasymphysis fractures (50.2%), followed by an angle (24.3%), condyle (20.4%), ramus (2.3%), and coronoid (2%). A total of 115 patients had bilateral fractures of which 29 had parasymphysis, 12 had body fractures, and 74 had bilateral condylar fractures. Double mandibular fractures were reported in 193 subjects, of which 151 subjects had double contralateral, and 42 had double unilateral fractures. The triple unilateral fracture was reported by only one subject. A total of 338 subjects had multiple fractures among the study population. Conclusion: Mandibular fractures can be complicated, demanding and have a compelling impact on patients' quality of life. Our study has reported that parasymphysis was the most common region involved in mandible fractures.