Pattern of Maxillofacial Trauma seen at ENT Department of a Tertiary Care Hospital

Objective: To determine the pattern of maxillofacial trauma seen at Dept. of Ear, Nose and Throat Head and Neck Surgery of a tertiary care hospital. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted at the Department of Ear, Nose, Throat (ENT), Head and Neck Surgery, Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar from June 2010 to Dec. 2010. It included 108 cases sustaining maxillofacial trauma. The patients of any age and either sex were included while patients having trauma to other systems besides maxillofacial trauma were excluded from study. The universal rule of ABC (Airway, Breathing, circulation) regarding managing emergency was adopted for all the patients. After stabilizing the patient necessary surgical procedure was performed and concerned departments were consulted. Results: Our study included 108 cases of maxillofacial trauma constituting 97 male and 11 female, with male: female ratio of 8.8:1. The age of the patients ranged from 08-60 years with mean age of 30.55 + S.D 19.88 years. Most of the cases were from rural area (59.3%) and 75 cases (69.4%) were received in first 8 hours of incidence. Fire arm injuries 42% was on top followed by road traffic accidents 25% (n=27). Majority of cases (90.7%) were homicidal and mandiblular fracture was 49.07% followed by maxillary fractures. Conclusion: It is concluded that homicidal firearm injury is the commonest while road traffic accident is second most common causative factor for maxillofacial trauma. These can be minimized by proper implementation of traffic rules, free education of the people, free availability of essential primary health care, best tertiary care at hospital level and spread of weapon amongst public should be banned.