Patterns of Le Fort Fractures in the Pediatric Population

Traumatic injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population in the United States, and therefore, it is essential to rapidly diagnose and treat these injuries.1 Le Fort fractures are severe, complex fractures of the midface that typically occur because of high-impa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American surgeon 2019-08, Vol.85 (8), p.408-410
Main Authors: Dalena, Margaret M., Khan, Wajiha, Dobitsch, Andrew A., Le, Thuy-My T., Halsey, Jordan N., Lee, Edward S., Granick, Mark S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical materials
Body mass
Etiology
Fractures
Injuries
Mandible
Morbidity
Mortality
Occlusion
Organs
Patients
Pediatrics
Physical examinations
Population
Population studies
Titanium
Trauma
Traumatic brain injury
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Traumatic injuries are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population in the United States, and therefore, it is essential to rapidly diagnose and treat these injuries.1 Le Fort fractures are severe, complex fractures of the midface that typically occur because of high-impact or high-velocity trauma. Because of the substantial force required to produce these fractures, serious concomitant injuries may be present, necessitating rapid identification and treatment. The other patient required MMF postoperatively because of a concomitant mandible fracture. Because of the limited amount of scientific literature regarding the prevalence and patterns of Le Fort fractures within the pediatric population, our study chose to focus on this topic. Children are especially susceptible to internal organ injury during traumatic events because of the presence of less internal fat to protect their organs and their smaller body mass, leading to increased force per unit of body area.4 Therefore, thorough physical examinations are crucial in identifying and initiating proper treatment of concomitant injuries. Because of the high osteogenic potential of the pediatric skeleton, some pediatric facial fractures can be managed conservatively compared with adult facial fractures.2 However, because of the severe nature of Le Fort fractures impacting occlusion and the common presence of significant other facial fractures, 12 patients (75%) in our study required surgical treatment.
ISSN:0003-1348
1555-9823
DOI:10.1177/000313481908500816