Incidence of oral and maxillofacial skiing injuries due to different injury mechanisms

Purpose: This study emphasizes the significance of maxillofacial injuries i n skiing accidents, correlating injury mechanisms and patterns, by evaluati ng a large population of maxillofacial injuries over a 6-year period. Patie nts and Methods: Between 1991 and 1996, of 5,623 patients showing oral and maxillof acial injuries, 1,859 were. sports-related. Records of 579 patients with 88 2 incidents of oral and maxillofacial injury due to skiing were reviewed an d analyzed according to age, sex, type of injury, cause of accident, locati on, and frequency of fractures. Additionally, the five main injury mechanis ms were analyzed. Results: The oral and maxillofacial injuries in 10.3% of all trauma patient s, or 33% of all sports-related trauma patients, were due to skiing. A tota l of 310 patients (53.5%) had facial bone fractures, 236 patients (40.8%) s uffered from dentoalveolar trauma, and 336 patients (58%) showed soft tissu e injuries. Five major causes and mechanisms of injury existed, namely, 263 falls (45%); 135 collisions with other skiers (23%); 70 individuals struck by their own ski equipment (12%); 46 collisions against stationary objects (8%); and 34 lift-track accidents (6%). Sex distribution showed an overall male-to-female ratio of 1.9:1.0, but varied depending on the injury mechan ism. The age distribution ranged from 2 to 81 years. Conclusion: The results of this study show the high incidence of oral and m axillofacial injuries due to skiing accidents. Depending on the mechanism o f injury, different patterns occur. Facial bone fractures are more likely i n collisions with other persons, falls, and collisions with stationary obje cts, whereas dentoalveolar trauma is more common when persons are struck by their own ski equipment, of when accidents on lift-tracks occur.