Facial injuries are commonly present in hospital patients admitted for trauma care. The epidemiology of this type of trauma has not been sufficiently studied in the North East of England and in particular in Newcastle upon Tyne. The aim of this study was to describe Newcastle upon Tyne maxillofacial unit experiences in the management of maxillofacial injuries outlining the aetiological spectrum, injury characteristics and treatment outcome of these injuries in our local setting. The study provides a basis for establishment of treatment guidelines and planning for preventive strategies. The main objectives of this study were to determine the epidemiology of injuries; aetiology, characteristics, related outcomes, and treatments within a trauma patient population. An epidemiologic study was conducted firstly using a retrospective observational study which included theatre logbook data covering the years 2003-2007. A second prospective study of two 6 week period short studies covered November/ December 2008 and May/June 2009. Analyses included descriptive frequency data tests along with comparative or relational tests such as the chi square test. The first retrospective observational study revealed that the most commonly fractured bones were mandibular and zygomatico-orbital. However, the prospective study revealed facial lacerations to be the most common type of facial injuries (39%). It also revealed differences in the aetiology and places of injuries between different periods or seasons. The clinical outcome part of the project comprised two studies: firstly a retrospective study was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of medical records of maxillofacial trauma patients in investigation of long term clinical outcomes. There were high dropout rates of patients, so by 3 months post injury there were 22 patients (19%) who did not attend their 3 month interview and 23 patients had not enough information in their notes whilst 8 patients were discharged due to non-attendance of the last two visits. Only 9 clinical patients' notes were useful at 6 months post injury emphasizing how difficult it is to investigate this area with a retrospective study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:627637 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Musa, Abedalnaser Aldokale |
| Publisher | University of Newcastle Upon Tyne |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0091 seconds