Introduction:

Mandibular fractures reach a high percentage of prevalence in Chile. The complexity of this type of fractures lies in it's own characteristics such as his physiology, dynamics, diversity of presentation, diagnosis and treatments. A better epidemiological understanding of the population affected by fractures of the mandibular bone will help improve care protocols for these injuries, implement preventive measures and together with this an optimization of resources of the health system.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological profile of patients with mandibular fracture treated at the Dr. Gustavo Fricke Hospital (HGF) in the city of Viña del Mar between 2014 and 2020.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out from an anonymized data base that gathers information from surgical protocols and clinical records of 147 patients treated between 2014 and 2020, who presented a total of 223 fractures of the mandibular bone. From this sample the variables sex, age, health insurance, habits, fracture site and etiology, month and day of entry, hours before surgery and total days of hospitalization were analyzed.

Results:

The average age of patients with mandibular fracture was 40.8 years. The most affected age range was between 20 and 39 years old. The male:female sex ratio corresponded to 8.18:1. Regarding the temporal distribution, a higher number of mandibular fractures was observed in the summer months (31.3 %) as well as on Fridays (36.7 %). The most frequent etiology was aggression (47.6 %), the most common fracture location was the mandibular angle with 27 % of the total. 12.9 % of the patients studied were smokers and 29.9 % reported drinking alcohol regularly. On the other hand, 13.6 % used some type of illicit drug regularly and 30.6 % of the patients belonged to the public health system FONASA A.

Discussion:

Our results in general agree with other studies available and they follow national and international tendencies.

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