The maxillofacial trauma has become a branch of great importance of the Maxillofacial Surgery specialty. The prevalence of trauma in the facial skeleton has been increasing in our population due to the considerable increase of the main etiological factors.

At present, the reports or publications on facial trauma prevalence in South America are scarce. Therefore, the knowledge of its prevalence is of vital importance for identifying the most prevalent etiological factors and the population most susceptible to suffer this pathology.

Purposes: To determine the prevalence, etiology and population affected by maxillofacial fractures in the north area of the Metropolitan Region, admitted in the San Jose Hospital.

Methodology: The study was performed using the data collected by a trained operator. The data was obtained from the medical records of the patients hospitalized in the San Jose Hospital Complex, during a one year period.

Results: The total number of patients was 156, which presented a total of 242 fractures. The male gender was the most affected, featuring, in an important percentage, the influence of alcohol consumption at the moment of the trauma. The main etiology of the facial fractures was the interpersonal violence.

Conclusion: Knowledge of the facial trauma prevalence is of vital importance, since this basic statistical information could provide evidence of the specific characteristics and details on how the maxillofacial trauma presents itself in our population.

Conflict of interest: None declared.