Profile of paediatric patient with nasal bone fracture

Abstract

Introduction. The nose is one of the most frequently injured areas on the face both in children and adults. The evaluation of paediatric patients with nasal injury is a challenge, and it often requires repeated physical examinations before referring the patient for surgical treatment. Nasal bone injury can either be isolated (prevalent type) or constitute an element of multiple-site facial injury. Essential aspects associated with the surgical treatment of nasal bone injuries include the timing of surgical intervention and adherence to meticulous surgical technique. Both factors are often implicated in treatment outcome and hence determine the final appearance of the nose and its function. Aim. The aim of study is to analyse the relation of patients age and sex compared to mechanism of trauma with paediatric patients. This study also analysed the length of period from injury to surgical intervention and time of hospitalization needed. Material and methods. The present paper contains an analysis of a total of 54 cases of children aged 2 to 17 years, who were operated on because of nasal bone injury in the Department of Paediatric Otolaryngology, University Clinical Centre in Warsaw, in the period from 1.01.2018 until 31.03.2018. The analysis is based on the medical records of the study patients. Results. The majority of cases were boys (65%). With respect to age, 4- and 5-year-olds, and 14-year-olds, were the predominant subgroups (13% of all cases, respectively). The dominant mechanisms of injury included falls (41%), beating (24%) and sports activities (26%). The patients typically underwent a surgical procedure on days 6-8 after the injury (65%), and the period of hospitalization was 2 days (69%). Conclusions. The most common nasal trauma of pediatric patient, majority boys, is the isolated fracture of nasal bone related to sports injury and beating. The fracture can be resettled mostly within one week after trauma and hospitalization takes one to two days.