J Korean Assoc Oral Maxillofac Surg.  2015 Oct;41(5):246-250. 10.5125/jkaoms.2015.41.5.246.

A clinical study of emergency room visits for oral and maxillofacial lacerations

• Park KH
• Song JM
• Hwang DS
• Kim YD
• Shin SH
• Kim UK
• Lee JY

• KMID: 2070438
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5125/jkaoms.2015.41.5.246

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
This study investigated patients with oral and maxillofacial lacerations who visited the emergency room over a three-year period in an effort to determine the optimal treatment for these injuries.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This study examined 1,742 patients with oral and maxillofacial lacerations with 2,014 different laceration locations who visited the emergency room of Pusan National University Hospital (Busan, Korea) over three years, from January 2011 to December 2013. Patients were classified by sex, age, visit day, cause of injury, injury site, and the presence or absence of soft tissue and tooth injuries.
RESULTS
The male to female ratio was 2.50:1. Patients under 10 years old were seen most frequently. Most emergency room visits were on weekends. Among intra-oral lacerations, the lip area was the most vulnerable site; among extra-oral lacerations, the chin area was most frequently injured. The most frequent etiology was a slip down. Most lacerations occurred without bone fracture or tooth damage.
CONCLUSION
Laceration may differ in large part as compared with the fracture. Therefore, it is necessary to continue collecting data on oral and maxillofacial lacerations to establish optimal emergency room diagnosis and treatment strategies.

Keyword

Lacerations; Emergency medicine; Maxillofacial injuries

MeSH Terms

Busan
Chin
Diagnosis
Emergencies*
Emergency Medicine
Emergency Service, Hospital*
Female
Fractures, Bone
Humans
Lacerations*
Lip
Male
Maxillofacial Injuries
Tooth
Tooth Injuries

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Age distribution of patients.

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  Fig. 2 Daily distribution of patient emergency room visits.

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  Fig. 3 Distribution of patient injury etiology.

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  Fig. 4 Number (%) of laceration site.

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  Fig. 5 Laceration site distribution.

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  Fig. 6 Distribution of facial bone fractures and tooth injuries.

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