Trends in Le Fort Fractures at a South American Trauma Care Center: Characteristics and Management.

PURPOSE: To assess the trends in Le Fort (maxillary) fractures in patients seen at a South American trauma care center based on the characteristics and management of these.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of all patients with facial fractures seen at a trauma hospital during a six-year period, 50 (6.6 %) presented with Le Fort fractures. Medical charts were reviewed for characteristics presented and management performed. To improve the analyses, computed tomography and intraoperative findings were used. Statistical analyses involved descriptive statistics and the likelihood ratio test.

RESULTS: The fractures were Le Fort II (52 %), Le Fort I (22 %), Le Fort type-associated (20 %) and Le Fort III (6 %). Male patients (90 %) in their third decade of life (38 %) were more frequent (p = 0.022). Traffic accidents (56 %) were the major etiologic factor (p = 0.048). There were 1.4 additional facial fractures per patient, with predominance of zygoma fractures (36.5 %). Most of the cases were managed by open reduction (60 %) (p = 0.015) with the subciliary approach (42.7 %) (p = 0.001). The 1.5-mm system was the most used fixation and the zygomaticomaxillary suture the most frequent location (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION: the most common patient with a Le Fort fracture is an adult male, with a Le Fort II fracture due to a traffic accident requiring surgical fixation on zygomaticomaxillary suture.