Midface – cushion for head injuries

Recent technological advances have led to improvements in social well being of man’s life in all aspects. This improving and advanced lifestyle is the major cause for some debilitating problems like road traffic accidents. Statistical analysis in literature shows that head and maxillofacial injuries are the most common of these injuries. Recent studies show that fractures of midface are strongly associated with a high mortality rate. The exact relationship between different types of facial fractures and brain injuries is still controversial. Purpose: To evaluate the individuals with fractures of midface from different etiologies and determine if there is any relationship between various fractures of midface acting as a buffer mechanism for head injuries. Materials and Methods: Retrospective study was done to assess all the patients with midface fractures at the trauma center in a rural area in India. The etiologic and demographic data, the type of midface fracture and brain injury, and Glasgow coma scale were assessed. Results: Of 59 patients, 33 patients had head injury. The important correlations were as follows: Le Fort III with brain contusion, nasal orbital ethmoid fractures with subdural hematoma, frontal fracture with subdural hematoma, zygomatic complex fracture with brain contusion. Nasal fracture correlated with brain contusion. The zygomatic complex fracture was the most prevalent fracture. Conclusion: Different midface fracture patterns have the risk of different types of simultaneous brain injuries. So midface fractures absorb the forces of impact to a great extent and prevent the severity of head injuries and high mortality rate.