Abstract
Clinical analysis of maxillofacial fractures in 90 elderly patients over 65 years old was performed. Elderly patients constituted 7.7% of all fracture cases, and the male: female ratio was 1.4: 1.Falling was the most common cause of injury (49 cases, 54.4%) followed by traffic accidents (31 cases, 34.4%). The mandible was the most common site of fracture (60 cases, 66.7%) followed by the zygoma (22 cases, 24.4%). Condylar fractures of mandible were more frequently observed in elderly patients (55 of 110 fracture lines, 50%), followed by mental region (13 of 50 fracture lines, 26.0%) in dentulous patients with more than 4 teeth and the mandibular body (20 of 60 fracture lines, 33.3%) in dentulous patients with 4 teeth or less and edentulous patients, respectively. Treatment for 65 mandibular fractures was conservative in 45 cases and surgical in 20 cases. For 28 zygomatic fractures, observation and Gillies temporal approach were performed in 15 and 7 cases, respectively, and surgical treatment was done in only 6 cases. Prognoses were generally good, but dislocation of the mandible at mouth opening due to condylar fracture and hyposthesia was observed in a few cases.
