Comparison of Treatment Outcomes Associated With Early Versus Late Treatment of Mandible Fractures: A Retrospective Chart Review and Analysis

Purpose We conducted outcomes assessment for all patients who had undergone treatment of mandible fractures at Tufts Medical Center across the 2 specialties of oral and maxillofacial surgery and otolaryngology. The aim of the present study was to determine whether a correlation existed between the development of postoperative complications and late treatment of mandible fractures (defined as treatment provided >48 hours after the time of injury). Patients and Methods All patients with mandible fractures treated at Tufts Medical Center between January 1, 2003 and January 1, 2008, underwent chart review to document the relevant data, including the time of fracture, time of treatment, and complications recorded during postoperative follow-up. The only patients included in the review were those who had follow-up data with good documentation. Results Our dataset included 92 patients, with a mean age of 28.74 years. The injury scores, compared between the early and late treatment and complication and noncomplication groups, were equivocal. Of our 92 treated patients, 19 (20.7%) had ≥1 postoperative complication. Of the 19 patients with any complication, 10 had undergone early treatment and 9 had been treated after 48 hours. Of our late treatment group, 25% developed ≥1 complication. The overall complication rate for the early group was 18%. Conclusions Our study did not reveal a statistically significant difference in the development of postoperative complications after mandible fracture repair between the early and late treatment groups. Our study seemed to have a result similar to that of some of the earlier studies investigating the same variable.