Pattern of Mandibular Fractures Resulting from Fall

Zubair Ahmed, Jehan Alam, Abubakar Saddique, Ruqayya Shah, Muhammad Saeed Azhar, Mehmood Ur Rehman

Abstract

Objective

To find out the pattern of mandibular fractures resulting from fall among patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital.

Study design

Cross-sectional observational study.

Place & Duration of study

Department  of  Oral  and  Maxillofacial Surgery, Jinnah  Postgraduate  Medical Centre (JPMC) Karachi, from June 2025 to November 2025.

Methods

The non-probability consecutive sampling was applied to 100 patients aged 18-60 years with mandibular fractures due to falls. Trauma resulting from any other mechanism and causing fractures and other injuries as well as those with preexisting bone diseases, were excluded. Data were collected related to the demographic variables pattern of fall, anatomical location of fractures and number of fractures. Chi square test was applied to find out any significant association between the variables. A p value of <0.05 was taken as significant.

Results

The mean age of the patients was 35.45±12.49 years. Most of the patients (73.6%) were older than 25-years. Males comprised of 70.9% of the study population. The most common cause of injury was falls from a height of less than 3-meters (31.8%), followed by falls from greater heights (30.9%), stumbling or slipping (27.3%), and fall from stairs (10.0%). Single fractures were more common (57.3%). The most frequently involved anatomical sites were the condyle (23.6%) and parasymphysis area (20.9%), followed by the angle (18.2%), body (17.3%), symphysis (10.9%), and dentoalveolar region (9.1%). There was no statistically significant association between fracture type and age  (p=0.254) or gender (p = 0.323).

Conclusion

Falls from a low height were the leading cause of mandibular fractures. Males in their middle-age were most commonly affected.

Key words

Accidental falls, Mandibular fractures, Facial injuries.