Prevalence of osteoporosis in the maxillofacial region and its correlation with maxillofacial trauma - A closer look.

BACKGROUND

Osteoporotic fractures are weight-bearing skeleton fractures resulting from minor trauma, and can be influenced by osteoporosis, a systemic condition that can impact fracture outcomes from severe events.

AIM: To detect the prevalence of osteoporosis in the maxillofacial region and its association with the impact of maxillofacial trauma.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate and assess the bone density of the maxillofacial region between different age groups and to assess the relationship between bone density and the occurrence of facial fractures in patients with maxillofacial trauma.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A cross-sectional observational study was conducted on patients with a maxillofacial trauma history. Computed tomography (CT) examinations were performed using a 160-slice CT and picture archiving and communication system, with a minimum sample size of 74. The study used SPSS software to analyze data on various fracture sites, including continuous variables like orbital floor, nasal bone (NB), and zygomatico-maxillary suture, and categorical variables like fracture score distribution and grayscale categories by inter- and intragroup comparisons.

RESULTS

There was an increased prevalence of osteoporosis and maxillofacial fractures in males, between the age group of 26-35 years in the subjects. Additionally, the osteoporotic bone showed reduced Hounsfield unit value and a coarser trabecular pattern on CT scans.

CONCLUSION

This study thus proved the direct and specific effects of osteoporosis in the maxillofacial region using CT measures and also proved that they could be fractured at ease.