Facial bone fractures in children are relatively uncommen in comparison with fractures of other bones in the body and in comparison with the incidence of such injuries in adults. And most large series of fractures complied from general hospital contain few of them. For this reason, we chose to analyze the data compiled from a group of 56 patients with facial fractures, who were under 16 years of age at the time, seen at the Inje medical college Seoul Paik hospital from Mar. 1, 1974 through Dec. 31, 1985.
The following results were obtained.
1. Amongst a total of 498 patients, 56 patients were under age of 16(11.2%). Males were predominated more than females(3.3:1).
2. The most common cause was automobile accident, followed by fall, struck by blunt object, fisticuffs, and sports accidents.
3. A total of 67 classified fractures were diagnosed in 56 patients. 7 patients had multiple facial fractures which included two or more of the categories. Among these, the most common fractures were found in mandible(40.3%) followed by nose, zygoma, maxilla, orbit and/or blowout.
4. Associated injuries were soft tissue injuries(50%), extremity fracture, skull fracture, craniocerebral injuries, in order of frequency. The highest incidence of associated injury was found in mandibular fractures.
5. Closed reduction was done for 34.3% of the patients, open reduction for 23.9%, conservative for 25.4%, and combination of closed and open reduction for 13.4%.
6. Complications were as follows.
Local infection 1.7% Eye problem 5.2%
Osteomyelitis 1.7% Poor esthetic result 1.7%
Malunion 1.7% Hypertrophic rhinitis 1.7%
T-M joint limitation 1.7% Nasolacrimal obstruction 1.7%
7. We mailed a questionnaire to all the patients of this series. And 20 cases of a total of 56 patients returned a questionnaires for a response rate 35.7%
The followup period was ranging from 7 months to 10 years(mean 3.5 years).
The results were as follows.
Malocclusion (3)
Deviation on opening mouth (1)
Delayed and deviated eruption (1)
Nasal deformity (3)
Facial asymmetry (1)
The remainder 11 were satisfied with the results.
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