Facial fractures in children and adolescents: a retrospective study of 3 years in a hospital in Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Aim: The purpose of this study was to review the etiology, incidence and treatment of selected oral and maxillofacial fractures in children in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, during a period of 3 years. Materials and methods: The data collected for this study included age, gender, etiology, date of trauma, associated maxillofacial trauma, anatomic site of fracture and treatment. The analysis involved descriptive statistics and chi-squared test, Bonferroni test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whiney tests and analysis of variance. Results and conclusions: This study examined 566 facial fractures in 464 children of 18 years of age or less. The majority of fractures were observed in children within the age group of 13-18 years of age. Bicycle accidents were the major cause of trauma, followed by falls. The mandible was found to be the most common fractured bone in the facial skeleton, followed by the nose. A conservative approach was applied in most cases.