Author(s)

Robert Nii Lamy Larmie¹, Ama Agyeibea Amuasi^2,3, Solomon Obiri-Yeboah^1,2, Alexander Oti Acheampong^1,2, Peter Donkor^1,2

¹Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
²School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
³Department of Orthodontics and Child Oral Health, KomfoAnokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.

Background: Maxillofacial injury may vary from simple soft tissue lacerations to complex fractures of the orofacial region. Soft tissue injuries, whether isolated or in combination with other injuries, form part of the frequent traumatic craniofacial injuries seen at the emergency department. The force of impact and the injury type is directly related to the severity of the injury sustained. This study aimed to analyze the etiological factors, prevalence, and management of oral and maxillofacial soft tissue injuries at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. Methods: This was a prospective study that involved children presenting with oral and maxillofacial injuries at the Accident and Emergency Department and the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi between the period of April to October 2020 (6 months). Patient selection was by convenience sampling targeting all children with injuries who met the inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria were children below the age of 18 years whose parents or caregivers consent to participation. Children with maxillofacial injuries as a result of burns were excluded from the study. Results: During the study period a total of 134 children were reviewed with oral and maxillofacial injuries at KATH. Of these, 107 (78.9%) were recorded cases of orofacial soft tissue injuries. There were 63 (58.9%) males and 44 (41.1%) females and the male-to-female ratio was 1.5:1. The age range of patients studied was 8 months – 17 years, with mean age ± SD being 9.5 ± 5.3 years. Road Traffic Crash (50.5%) was the most common etiology of which Motor cycle crash constituted 24.3% and Pedestrian knockdown was 19.6%. Falls (42.1%) were the next most common etiology. The lips (19.8%) and the forehead (18.5%) were the most frequently injured sites on the face whiles the tongue (3.3%) had the most injuries intraorally. Laceration (45.7%) was the most frequent injury reviewed, followed by abrasions (35.8%). Most of the soft tissue injuries underwent primary closure (56.3%). A complication rate of 21.2% was recorded in this study and hypertrophic scarring (11.3%) was the most observed.

Laceration, Soft Tissue Injury, Etiology, Maxillofacial Injury, Prevalence, Management, Children

Larmie, R. , Amuasi, A. , Obiri-Yeboah, S. , Acheampong, A. and Donkor, P. (2023) Etiology, Prevalence, and Management of Oral and Maxillofacial Soft Tissue Injuries in Children at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi-Ghana. Open Journal of Stomatology, 13, 243-255. doi: 10.4236/ojst.2023.138021.