ABSTRACT
Purpose: It has been shown that cranial injuries associated with facial fractures may cause a great risk of mortality and neurological morbidity, which mainly occurs in young adults. Various studies have been carried out in various countries to study the epidemiology of the cranio maxillofacial injuries but the studies from Egypt are few. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the prevelance, etiology, type of injury, and site of fractures among patient attending Assiut University Hospitals. Material and Methods: Retrospective hospital study was carried out at Trauma unit, Assiut University Hospitals (Single Tertiary Hospital) between January 2010 and December 2017. Radiographs and hospital data of 1745 patients with craniomaxillofacial trauma were gathered and analyzed. The identified fractures, such as, age, gender, etiology of injury, and anatomical sites of fractures were classified as: frontal/skull base, naso-orbital, maxilla, zygoma, and mandible. According to GCS, patients were classified into 3 grades: mild, moderate and severe. Gathered data was coded and entered into a computer and analyzed using SPSS version 22. Result: Overall prevalence of cranio maxillofacial injuries was 3%. Age ranged from 1 - 90 with mean ± SD 25.75 ± 15.5. The greatest number of the patients had 18 to 40 years old (48.4%) and most of them were male (M/F ratio was 7:1). The most prevalent causes of the trauma in this study were the road traffic accidents (67.7%) and accidental fall (15%), respectively. Firearm injuries accounted for fractures in 86 patients (4.9%). The most common bone fracture among the patients was the mandibular bone (47.7%). 837 patients (48%) required surgical intervention. Conclusions: This retrospective population study demonstrates an insight into the demographics and fracture patterns in craniomaxillofacial trauma patients. The most common etiology of craniomaxillofacial injury was road traffic accidents followed by falls and assaults, suggesting that interventions addressing the prevention of this mechanism, and treatment of the associated injury patterns, have not been sufficient and require to be revised. The majority of victims were young adult males between the ages of 18 to 40 years. The mandibular bone and maxilla were the most common sites of fracture.