A four year retrospective study of 1,062 patients presenting with maxillofacial emergencies at a specialist paediatric hospital.

AIMS To examine the nature of maxillofacial injuries that presented to the Birmingham Children's Hospital according to aetiology, incidence and characteristics of patients. METHODS The maxillofacial unit at Diana Princess of Wales Birmingham Children's Hospital serves a catchment area of 5.2 million. We examined all children who presented with maxillofacial trauma from 2002 to 2006. Details including characteristics of patients and aetiology and nature of injury, were entered prospectively into a database. RESULTS The total number of patients who presented was 1062. The ratio of boys to girls was 2:1. The main reason for attendance was a fall (70%). 149 (17%) patients presented after interpersonal violence. Soft tissue injuries accounted for 70% of injuries and 14% presented with a maxillofacial fracture. CONCLUSIONS Our data indicate that the range and mechanism of presenting injuries have not changed within the time frame. Despite public perception of increasing interpersonal violence, this was not reflected in our series of patients.