Epidemiology study of facial injuries during a 13 month of trauma registry in Tehran.

BACKGROUND Many studies have recently noted a shift in the causative mechanism of facial injuries away from traffic accident to assaults. AIMS Our study aimed to investigate patterns of facial injuries in trauma patients during 13 months study of trauma patients in six general hospitals in Tehran. MATERIAL AND METHODS Trauma patients who were hospitalized for more than 24 hours and had sustained injuries within seven days from admission were included in the study. Of the 8000 trauma patients, four hundred (5%) sustained facial injuries. RESULTS Male to female ratio was 4.5:1. Among them, 53.3% were aged 11-30 years. Traffic accidents were by the far the commonest cause of injury. Motorcyclists who wore a helmet sustained facial fractures less often during traffic accident than those patients who did not wear helmet. Soft tissue injury and facial bone fracture comprised 43.3% and 40.8% of facial injuries, respectively. The majority of Soft tissue injuries (79%) were located extra orally. The mandible and nasal bone were the most commonly fractured facial bones. Victims of assault sustained more severe injuries compared to those involved in falls and traffic accidents. CONCLUSIONS Use of helmets by motorcyclists and the separation of pedestrians routes from motor vehicles could reduce the number of victims and consequently injuries due to road traffic accidents. For implementation of effective prevention programs for reduction of facial injuries due to assault, it seems to be necessary to conduct studies investigating causes and pattern of injuries resulting in assault.