THE IMPACT OF PROTECTIVE DEVICES ON THE SEVERITY OF ROAD TRAFFIC MAXILLOFACIAL INJURIES IN IBADAN, NIGERIA
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. E-mail: drtimmylee@gmail.com
Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
*Correspondence
Grant support: None
Conflict of Interest: None
ABSTRACT
Background: Background: Road traffic crashes related maxillofacial injuries constitute a major part of the trauma workload of the maxillofacial surgeon. These injuries are sometimes fatal and may be associated with long term psychosocial sequelae. Several devices have been designed to reduce the severity of these injuries and therefore diminish the associated morbidity and mortality.
Aim and objective: To evaluate the influence of restraints and protective devices on the severity of road traffic maxillofacial injuries. Design of the study: A prospective study.
Method: A prospective study of patients managed at the University College Hospital, Ibadan for road traffic crashes-related oral and maxillofacial injuries. Demographic variables, types of vehicles involved (categorized into A- 2 wheelers and B- 4whellers), seat position, use or non-use of protective devices and type of injury sustained as well as injury severity assessed based on the Maxillofacial Injury Severity Scale (MFISS) were recorded in a proforma. Correlations between injury types, severity, and use of protective devices were determined using IBM SPSS version 20.0
Results: Out of 155 patients reviewed, 134(86.5%) were males while 21(13.5%) were females. There were 84(54.2%) participants in Category A vehicles and 71(45.8%) in Category B vehicles. About 15.5% (13/84) in Category A and 22.5% (16/71) in Category B used protective devices (crash helmet and seat belt respectively). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the median MFISS score for those that used protective devices and those who did not in both categories (P= 0.862 for Category A; P = 0.64 for Category B)
Conclusion: The rate of use of protective devices was relatively low among commuters in the study. However, it was noted that the use of the devices made no difference to the severity of maxillofacial injuries using the MFISS. Public enlightenment on the proper use of restraint devices should be intensified.
Keywords: Protective devices, Road traffic crashes, Maxillofacial injuries, Severity, Nigeria .