Changing picture of facial fractures in northern Nigeria.

This was a prospective study that aimed to find out the current pattern of facial fractures in northern Nigeria and to see if changes in the socioeconomic conditions in Nigeria during the past 20-30 years have affected the aetiology, sex and age distribution of the patients, and type of facial fractures. The setting was the maxillofacial unit of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, which is the only referral centre for facial trauma in north-eastern Nigeria, serving a population of about 30 million people. All 306 patients were treated for facial fracture between January 1996 and December 1999. Most of the patients (126/306, 41%) were in the age range 21-30 years and the male to female ratio was 2.19:1. The main causes of the fractures were assault (n = 147, 48%) followed by road traffic accidents (n = 111, 36%). Other aetiological factors such as falls, and sports or industrial accidents accounted for the remaining cases. Of the assault-related injuries 102 (33%) were the result of armed robbery and 45 (15%) the result of fights, mainly on the farms. The mandible was the most common site of fractures (n = 273, 89%) and most of the mandibular fractures were in the body of the mandible. Only 44/306 patients (14%) reported to the hospital within the first 24 hours after injury. Changing socioeconomic conditions are associated with an increase in assault-related facial fractures, but the predominantly affected age group, sex and site of fracture remain relatively constant.