RESULTS
A total of 65 males (74.7%) and 22 females (25.3%), totaling to 87 patients, were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 10.78 years (Table 1), and the youngest patient operated was 6-months old. The fractures were most common at the age of 17 years (17.2%), and the most common cause at this age was motorcycle accidents (37.5%). It was observed that the most common cause of trauma in patients operated with maxillofacial fracture in our clinic was fall in both genders (48.3%), the second most common cause was motorcycle accident in boys (21.5%), and non-vehicle traffic accidents in girls (13.6%) (Table 2). When we classified the ages as 0–5, 6–12 and 12–18 years, the group that was most commonly operated due to facial fractures was between 12- and 18-years old (49.4%); the second most commonly operated age group was between 6- and 12-years old (26.4%); and the least commonly operated group was between 0 and 5-years old (24.1%).
In our clinic, the most commonly operated fracture localization was classified as panfacial fractures (fractures on at least 3 different locations) in 24 patients (27.58%), and the second most common localization was unilateral condylar fracture accompanied by symphysis or parasymphysis fracture (11.49%) in 10 patients, and unilateral corpus fracture accompanied by a ramus or angulus fracture in 10 patients (11.49%) (Table 3). Overall, mandibular fractures were the most common fractures (54 patients, 62%).
The length of hospital stay of the patients ranged from 1 day to 90 days. 11.5% of the patients were followed up in intensive care in the preoperative or postoperative period.
Operations were most commonly performed as open reduction internal fixation (35.6%) and arch bar application with open reduction internal fixation (25.3%). Other patients were operated using methods such as closed reduction of zygoma, orbital floor repair (with autogenous or alloplastic material), gap arthroplasty, intermaxillary fixation screw, and intermaxillary fixation (Table 4). In the postoperative follow-up of the patients, complications such as hematoma, bleeding, plate-screw exposition, displacement of the arch bar, and suture separation were observed.