Time to Open Repair of Mandibular Fractures and Associated Complications

Jeffrey James, Thomas Farrell, Mark Stevens, Stephen Looney, Alexander Faigen, Jessica Anderson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether a correlation exists between the time from injury to repair of mandibular fractures and the development of postoperative complications. We also sought to assess whether a delay in treatment manifests in an increased surgical time. Patients and Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study and enrolled a sample (N = 64) derived from patients treated with open repair of mandibular fractures at Augusta University Medical Center by the oral and maxillofacial surgery service from July 2015 to June 2018. Time from injury to surgical repair was analyzed as a continuous variable, and the primary outcome was the presence of any of the following postoperative complications: infection, mechanical complication, cranial nerve V3 deficit, or cranial nerve VII deficit. Secondary outcome variables included the presence of substance abuse, surgical approach, and surgery time. Logistical regression was performed. Results: Among 64 patients, there were 27 patients with a total of 32 complications, including infection (n = 9), mechanical complications (n = 3), cranial nerve V3 deficits (n = 13), and cranial nerve VII deficits (n = 7). The mean time to fixation was 13.26 days in patients without complications versus 17.52 days in patients with complications. The association between time to surgical repair and complication rate was not statistically significant (P =.203). No association was found between time to surgical repair and surgery time (P =.699). Conclusions: Our study did not find a significant association between the timing of repair of mandibular fractures and complications. Our study also failed to show a correlation between a delay in surgical intervention and increased technical challenges manifested by an increased surgical time.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)101-107
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume78
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Surgery
  • Oral Surgery
  • Otorhinolaryngology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Time to Open Repair of Mandibular Fractures and Associated Complications'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this