MAXILLOFACIAL INJURIES IN A GROUP OF SOUTH-AFRICANS UNDER 18 YEARS OFAGE

Objective - To find out the incidence of maxillofacial injuries in Sou th African children aged 18 Sears or less, Design - Retrospective stud y of casenotes, Setting - Six teaching hospitals affiliated to the Uni versity of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, serving a population of about 5 million people. Subjects - All 326 children treated for facial injur ies in the maxillofacial and oral departments of the six hospitals bet ween 1 January 1989 and 30 June 1992, Main outcome measures - Classifi cation of the types of injury, associated injuries, cause of the injur y, and methods of diagnosis, Results - Of the total of 4192 patients o f all ages treated for facial injuries, 326 (8%) were within the age r ange of the study, The female:male ratio was 1 :2.3, Most of the injur ies (227, 70%) occurred in the 13-18 age group, and assaults, fights a nd gunshot wounds accounted for 155 injuries (48%), Of the 326 childre n, 173 (53%) had single injuries and 153 (47%) had multiple injuries, Mandibular fractures were the most common (64%) followed by maxilloman dibular fractures (25%), Violence was the most common cause of injury, as in the USA and Zimbabwe, but unlike the rest of the world in which it is motor vehicle accidents, Soft tissue injuries were the most com mon associated injuries, and conventional plain radiography was the us ual investigation, Conclusion - The incidence of 8% compares favourabl y with those in other countries, but far too many injuries are the res ult of violence.