OBJECTIVE: To conduct an epidemiological study of facial fractures in children in an emergency room. METHODS: A retrospective study of forty-two patients, aged zero to 17 years, with facial fractures treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Santa Casa de São Paulo, from January 2000 to December 2003. The data were tabulated from information retrieved from patient files, such as age, gender, type of fracture, etiology and season of occurrence. RESULTS: Among the results were a predominance of males, accounting for 81% of all cases; jaw fracture was the most prevalent, constituting more than 70% of cases; and traffic accidents and falls were the etiologic agents that caused the most fractures. Summer was the season with the greatest number of cases of fracture and more than 80% required surgical intervention for their treatment. CONCLUSION: A policy of prevention is necessary, with special attention to traffic accidents and falls, which were the etiologic agents that caused the most facial fractures.
Oral surgery; Facial injuries; Epidemiology; Emergency service; Child; Adolescent
