Background and objectives : The incidence and the prevalence of maxillofacial trauma has been reported worldwide, but we do not have recent Spanish data. The main objective of this study is to determine the epidemiology of maxillofacial fractures in La Paz University Hospital (Madrid, Spain) and compare it to other studies performed at different institutions.

Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted between the years 2009 and 2012, recording all fractures in the Oral and Maxillofacial Department of La Paz University Hospital that required surgical treatment. Information was collected from a formulary which records patients age and gender, type of fracture, location, treatment, and date of the intervetion.

Results : In this four-year study there were a total of 328 patients with a total of 499 fractures. The mean age was 36. The male:female ratio was 5:1. Of all interventions ( n = 499), 54.5% were orbitozigomatic fractures, followed by mandibular fractures (44%). Condyle fracture (59 fractures) was the most common mandibular fracture, followed by mandibular angle fracture (52 cases). The main cause was assault (53,6%). Only 58.6% of patients were Spanish. Alcohol or drugs were involved in most of the cases. Most of the facial fractures occured on weekends.

Conclusions : The epidemiology of maxillofacial fractures is directly in relation with social and economic population level. Citizen awareness programs about alcohol and drug abuse and legislation should have an important role to decrease maxillofacial fractures. A knowledge about hospital population and incidence of fractures is important in order to distribute resources properly.

Key words : maxillofacial fracture; facial trauma; epidemiology; Spanish maxillofacial