pattern of Maxillofacial Injuries due to Motorcycle Related Road Traffic Accidents at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: To determine the frequency and pattern of maxillo-facial injuries related to motorcycle accidents and to findout the association of helmet use and maxillo-facial injuriesMethods: Two years (January 2014 - December 2015) retrospective data of maxillofacial trauma patients was collectedfrom the department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery of Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK). Analysis, method?Results: A total of 316 trauma patients were brought to the hospital during the study period. Out of these, 2.5% werechildren and 6.6% were adolescents. The majority 84.5% was aged 20 to 40 years, 5.4% were between 41 and 60 yearsand 1% were above 60 years of age. Males comprised 90.5% of the total. Total 8.9% had higher education while 15.2%were illiterate. Frequency of motorcyclists among the study patients was 84.2%. Out of these, 67.4% were drivers while16.8% were passengers. Only 8.9% were wearing helmets. Soft tissue injuries were reported in 61.4% (194), 8.2% haddentoalveolar fractures, 47.78% mid-face fractures, 56% mandibular fractures, 61% isolated mandibular fractures and39% presented with complex fractures. Twenty-nine percent had ZMC fractures, 92.6% were isolated ZMC, 9.5% hadLe Fort II Fractures and 6% Le Fort III fractures; 5% had frontal sinus and 3.5% had pan-facial fractures. Significantrelation was found between motorcyclists and helmet usage (p<0.05).Conclusion: Road Traffic Accidents are rising day by day in the developing countries. The causes include low use ofsafety devices, poor infrastructure, and rising number of vehicles on the roads. This study shows that mostly young menin their 20s and 30s are involved in these accidents. In more than 50% of these accidents, the mandible is fractured. Theimpact of this kind of injury on the young patients’ quality of life is significant and traumatic. These fractures can beprevented by promoting the use of safety methods (mandatory wearing of crash helmets), improving road infrastructure,and regulating the number of registration of motorcycles. Safety regulations regarding helmet use need to be enforcedstrictly and awareness needs to be raised among the masses regarding safe use of motorcycles