Epidemiological Study of Frontal Sinus Fractures: Evaluation of 16 Years of Care at the Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto/Brazil

Lucas Costa Nogueira; José Henrique Santana Quinto; Priscila Faleiros Bertelli Trivellato; Cássio Edvard Sverzut; Alexandre Elias Trivellato

doi:10.1007/s12663-022-01765-8

Epidemiological Study of Frontal Sinus Fractures: Evaluation of 16 Years of Care at the Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto/Brazil

J Maxillofac Oral Surg. 2024 Apr;23(2):371-379. doi: 10.1007/s12663-022-01765-8. Epub 2022 Jul 22.

Authors

Lucas Costa Nogueira¹, José Henrique Santana Quinto¹, Priscila Faleiros Bertelli Trivellato¹, Cássio Edvard Sverzut¹, Alexandre Elias Trivellato¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Periodontology, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Av Do Café, S/nCampus USP, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, CEP: 14040-904 Brazil.

PMID: 38601249
PMCID: PMC11001839 (available on 2025-04-01)
DOI: 10.1007/s12663-022-01765-8

Abstract

Purpose: Aiming to evaluate and study the epidemiological profile of frontal sinus fractures treated in the region of Ribeirão Preto-Brazil.

Methods: Sixteen years of activity in the Oral and Maxillofacial service of the Faculty of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto/SP (FORP/USP), totaling 9,736 consultations, 4,524 with facial fractures, those diagnosed with frontal sinus fracture (113) were evaluated and selected for the study.

Results: Frontal sinus fractures accounted for 2.5% of facial fractures, the majority occurring in men (89.4%), concentrated in the age group 21-30 years old, with 52.2% of cases being caused by road traffic accidents (RTA). Associations with other facial fractures are common and appeared in 75.2% of cases. Treatment was followed either surgically, by open reduction internal fixation (52.2%) or conservatively (35.4%). Analyzing only the 28 isolated frontal sinus fractures, the most common treatment was conservative (46.4%). surgical treatment dropped to 25%. The most common postoperative complications were temporal branch paralysis and supraorbital nerve paresthesia, both occurring in 30.5% of surgical cases.

Conclusion: The frequency of frontal sinus fractures may be decreasing, but the pattern of occurrence in young men due to road traffic accidents does not seem to change, fortunately the appearance of serious complications is not common and it is usually associated with more severe trauma.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Frontal sinus; Maxillofacial surgery; Skull fractures; Trauma.