Mandibular fracture is a common occurrence in emergencymedicine and belongs to the most frequent facial fractures.Historically\nroad traffic injuries (RTIs) have played a prominent role as a cause for mandibular fractures. We extracted data from all patients\nbetween August 2012 and February 2015 with ââ?¬Å?lower jaw fractureââ?¬Â or ââ?¬Å?mandibular fractureââ?¬Â from the routine database from the\nemergency department. We conducted a descriptive analysis at a Swiss level one trauma centre. 144 patients were admitted with\nsuspected mandibular fractures. The majority underwent CT diagnostic (83%). In 7% suspected mandibular fracture was not\nconfirmed. More than half of all patients suffered two or more fractures. The fractures were median or paramedian in 77/144\npatients (53%) and in other parts (corpus, mandibular angle, ramusmandibularis, collum, and temporomandibular joint) in 100/144\n(69%). Male to female ratio was 3 : 1 up to 59 years of age; 69% were younger than 40 years. 72% of all patients presented during\ndaytime, 69% had to be hospitalized, and 31% could be discharged from the ED after treatment. Most fractures were due to fall\n(44%), followed by interpersonal violence (25%) and sport activities (12%). Falls were a dominant cause of fracture in all age groups\nwhile violence and sport activities were common only in younger patients. Comparisons to other studies were difficult due to lack\nof standardization of causes contributing to the injuries. In the observed time period and setting RTIs have played a minor role\ncompared to falls, interpersonal violence, and sports. In the future, standardized documentation as well as categorization of causes\nfor analytic purposes is urgently needed to facilitate international comparison of studies.
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