TY - JOUR PY - 2022// TI - Pediatric mandible fractures: mechanism, pattern of injury, fracture characteristics, and management by age JO - Facial plastic surgery and aesthetic medicine A1 - Morisada, Megan V. A1 - Tollefson, Travis T. A1 - Said, Mena A1 - Hwang, Joshua A1 - Hsieh, Tsung Yen A1 - Funamura, Jamie L. SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - BACKGROUND: Development of the craniofacial skeleton and different mechanisms of injury warrant different treatment paradigms for younger children versus those at skeletal maturity.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the mechanism, fracture patterns, and management of mandible fractures across the pediatric age spectrum.

METHODS: A 10-year retrospective review of <18-year-old children with mandible fractures at a level 1 trauma center. Characteristics were compared by age subgroup analysis.

RESULTS: Of 220 patients meeting inclusion criteria, motor vehicle collision (n = 53, 40.8%), falls (n = 48, 36.9%), and assault (n = 19, 14.6%) were the most common mechanisms with more falls in younger children and more injury by assault in teenagers. Condylar fractures were most common in the 0- to <9-year-old children (n = 27, 38.4%); angle/ramus fractures (56, 62.6%) were most common in 15- to <18-year-old children (p < 0.001). Nonsurgical management was associated with younger age (p < 0.001). Fourteen of 125 patients (8.0%) undergoing surgical intervention experienced complications. Being uninsured was associated with shorter median (interquartile range) follow-up of 5.6 (1.4-10.7) weeks, compared with private [11.9 (4.3-49.0) weeks] and public insurance [11.7 (3.7-218.0) weeks] (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: The mechanism, fracture sites, and treatment differed by age with the youngest frequently managed nonoperatively and teenagers treated with adult algorithms. Complications were rare overall within 6-12 weeks after injury, with or without surgical management.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 2689-3614 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/fpsam.2022.0031 ID - ref1 ER -