This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
At the January 1987 Southern Section Meeting of the Triological Society, Gerald Gussack, MD, University of South Alabama, Mobile, presented the results of a two-year retrospective study comparing pediatric and adult maxillofacial trauma. There were 30 patients in the pediatric group and 200 in the adult group. Instead of the usual male predominance that is seen in adult groups, the sex distribution was equal in the pediatric group. Multiple injuries also appeared to be more common in the latter group, with a 55% incidence of cranial injuries. However, there were fewer airway problems in children.
Gussack and coworkers (Randall Powell, MD, Keith Rodgers, MD, Arnold Luterman, MD, et al) noted that polydirectional tomography was utilized twice as often in children as in adults and is the radiographic procedure of choice when there are any questions regarding the accuracy of plain films. Although the anatomic distribution of mandibular fractures was