Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Pathology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and ¹Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Oral Pathology, University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria.

Objective: The study was undertaken to document the pattern of maxillofacial emergencies presenting to the accident and emergency unit of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching hospital, Ile-Ife between January 2001 and December 2002. Method: The patients’ demographics, the time of presentation, duration of emergency and mode of arrival was documented. Injuries of the oro-facial soft and hard tissues, injuries in other parts of the body, the investigations carried out and the management instituted was also recorded. Results: 106 patients representing 1.3% of all the Accident and Emergency admissions were seen by the maxillofacial unit. Males predominated (90 males against 16 females), mean age was 31.3 years, students (28%) were the most frequently encountered and weekends recorded the highest number of emergencies (50 patients or 47.2%). Trauma was the main reason for presentation (102 patients or 96.2%) and commercial vehicles were the commonest means of transportation to the hospital in 63 patients (59.4%). About a third of the subjects (31 or 36.1%) presented within the first hour, and the soft tissues of the midface were most often involved. The mandible was the most commonly fractured bone (20 patients or 19.6%) and limb injuries were the most commonly observed injury in other parts of the body (43 patients or 42.2%). Sixty-eight out of the 88 patients who required a surgical procedure were treated in the accident and emergency unit and 49 patients (46.2%) were admitted into the wards. The outcome was not significantly affected by the time or mode of presentation. Conclusions: There is a need for an oral and maxillofacial trauma registry at different locations in the country to ensure a long-term data collection for the development and evaluation of preventive measures.

Key words: Maxillofacial trauma, emergencies.