Trauma management protocol in maxillofacial medicine

Abstract

The most common cause of jaws fractures remains fifths, accidents, falls and sports,according to recent studies. They occur chiefly in males between 15 and 35 years of age and twice as frequently in the mandible as in the maxilla. Fractures may be direct, following a blow at the point where the break occurs, or may be indirect as a result of a blow on the bone at some distance from where the lesion occurs. They may be single, linear or comminuted, that is fragmented into two or more small pieces, and are said to be compound when they communicate with a wound in the skin or mucous membrane of the mouth, nose or air sinuses. Where there is a tooth in the line of the fracture the latter is almost certainly compound into the mouth through the periodontal membrane. In the young, incomplete or greenstick fractures of the mandible can occur. Diseases of the bone predispose to spontaneous pathological fractures, and traumatized patients need to be fully assessed, proper diagnosed and treated.