The Prevalence and Pattern of Oral and Maxillofacial Injuries in Al Fujairah Population, UAE- A Retrospective Study

There is inadequate documentation of Maxillofacial Injuries prevalence and patterns of occurrence in the UAE. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and trends of maxillofacial injuries among patients at Al-Fujairah Hospital, UAE, focusing on gender distribution, affected age groups, common causes, injury locations, associated soft tissue damage, diagnostic methods, and treatment approaches.

The retrospective study was conducted at Al Fujairah Hospital, UAE, between January 2003 and February 2015 and included 716 medical records of patients (59 males and 118 females) with maxillofacial injuries. The age range was from 3 to 64 years, with a mean (SD) age of 27(6.23) years. The data included demographic details, clinical findings, radiological findings, and intervention modalities. Descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test were used to study the prevalence and trends of maxillofacial injuries.

The age group 21-40 was the most affected. The age group older than 60 years old was the least affected. Oral and maxillofacial injuries were more prevalent in urban regions (n=113 (82.5%)) cases compared to rural areas (n=24(17.5%)). The majority of the victims were students. Road traffic accidents were the predominant cause of oral and maxillofacial injuries (34.5%), followed by workplace accidents (28.2%), falls (25.2%), assaults (7.7%), and others (4.1%). Among the patients, 76.4% experienced mandible or midface fractures or both. Among these, the most sustained were mandibular fractures (46.8%), followed by zygomatic complex fractures (17.0%), and 12.7% sustained mid-facial fractures. Additional fracture locations comprise nasal (27%), orbital (16%), dentoalveolar (10%), and frontal bone (7%). Of the Mandibular fractures, condylar fractures were the most common (5.4%), followed by fractures of the angle (3.8%), body (3.3%), symphysis (1.6%), and parasymphysis (1.1%). The predominant soft tissue injury was laceration, followed by contusions and incised wounds. Regarding the radiological investigations, OPGs were most commonly used for diagnosing mandibular fractures. In contrast, CT scans were commonly used to diagnose midfacial injuries, and the differences were statistically significant (p<0.05).

The study underscores the need for targeted preventive strategies for maxillofacial injuries, primarily caused by road traffic accidents in Al-Fujairah.