Incidence of mandibular fractures in Eastern part of Libya.

The objective of this retrospective study is to evaluate the incidence of mandibular fractures in the eastern part of Libya and to present our experience in treating this type of facial fracture. We analyzed factors such as the incidence of age, sex, time distribution, cause and site of the fracture and the associated injuries in 493 patients presenting a total of 666 mandibular fractures. These patients were treated at Al-Jala Trauma Hospital, Benghazi-Libya between 2000 and 2006. The results were obtained from 432 males and 61 females, for which the ages ranged from 8 months to 72 years. The maximum number of the patients was recorded in 2004, and the busiest month was May. The most common cause of fracture was road traffic accidents and the most common site was the parasymphysis. Among those treated with closed reduction were 241 patients, whereas 201 patients were treated with open reduction. In conclusion, we found that the results were similar to most studies from developing countries and were in contrast to other studies. This may be due factors such as geography, socioeconomic trends, religion, road traffic legislation and seasons, which differ from one country to another. The period during which there was an embargo in Libya also appears to have affected the results.