Incidence and Pattern of Multiple Mandibular Fracture: How Uncommon are they? A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to find out the incidence and pattern of multiple mandibular fractures among patients reporting to B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), Dharan, Nepal.

Material and Methods: Data of patients who reported with mandibular fracture at BPKIHS from January 2021 to December 2022 were retrieved from the medical records. Incompletely filled and missing records were excluded. Pathological fractures were also excluded. Demographic variables, etiology for injury, and site of mandibular fractures were tabulated into Microsoft Excel sheet (2018) and analyzed.

Results: The age of the patients ranged from 14 to 41 years with mean age of 25±5.5 years. Majority of patients were male (78%). Most of the injuries resulted from road traffic accident (64%). Other causes of injuries were physical assault (20%), and fall injuries (14%). Out of all reported cases 68% had multiple mandibular fracture. The injuries reported were fractures of parasymphysis together with fracture of angle (24%), among which 84% had from contralateral fractures whereas 16 % had ipsilateral fractures. Bilateral parasymphysis fracture was 12%, symphysis fracture together with bilateral condylar fracture was 14.7%. In patients with multiple fractures, 53 % had parasymphysis involvement, 34% had bilateral condylar involvement and 25% had angle involvement.

Conclusion:  Incidence of mandibular fracture was more common in male. Road traffic accident was the most common cause of mandibular fracture. Fracture of parasymphysis together with fracture of angle was the most common.