Epidemiology of Mandibular Head Fractures

The materials consisted of the medical database of the CliniNet program (www.cgm.com, accessed on 1 October 2022) at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Poland, and the results of computer tomography scans evaluated in RadiAnt (www.radiantviewer.com, accessed on 1 October 2022), which are available in this department. The keywords for selecting patients were mandibular fracture and mandibular condylar process fracture. The research covered the period from 1 January 2020 to 1 October 2022, which was 33 months of continuous operation of the hospital department. Patients were cared for around the clock because the hospital ward provides 24-h medical care and serves a region with a population of approximately 2.5 million. In addition, statistics on the availability of treatment should be provided. There are 39 maxillofacial surgery departments/subdepartments in Poland (38.3 million in 2020, 38.1 million in 2021, and 41.5 million residents, including 3.2 million citizens of Ukraine, in 2022 [21 ]), of which only three provide surgical treatment for mandibular head fractures. All residents of the country have the option of hospital treatment, and 35.8 million people have health insurance [22 ].
Fractures of the mandibular body, angle, and ramus, as well as fractures of the base and neck (low neck and high neck) of the mandibular condyle according to Kozakiewicz classification [14 (link)] and three types of mandibular head fractures (A, B, and C according to Neff [10 (link),11 (link)]), were counted in the archival material of the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Medical University of Lodz, Poland, analyzed, and subjected to radiological verification. In addition, data were collected on sex, age, place of residence, and cause of injury.
To interpret the epidemiological results, the prevalence of mandibular head fractures was additionally checked. The amount of medical-scientific research interest in the PubMed database (www.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/advanced/, accessed on 31 December 2022) related to the topic of this publication was checked. Studies related to mandibular head fractures (or intracapsular fractures) and studies related to the surgical treatment of such fractures were searched for. The search query was ((((((mandible head fracture)) OR ((mandible intracapsular fracture)))) AND (((((fixation)) OR ((osteosynthesis))) OR ((surg)))))) AND (1982:2022[pdat])).
Statistical analysis was performed in Statgraphics Centurion 18 (Statgraphics Technologies Inc., The Plains City, VA, USA). A p value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.