MAXILLOFACIAL TRAUMA, ETIOLOGY AND PROFILE OF PATIENTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY.

Objective: To describe the profile of patients with facial trauma admitted in a hospital located in a metropolitan area of Northeast Brazil.

Methods: A cross-sectional and exploratory study was performed. A total of 244 cases were in agreement with the eligibility criteria. The variables include the sociodemographic characteristics of patients, etiology, type of trauma, treatment modalities, length of stay in a hospital and quarter of care. Descriptive statistics and Cluster Analysis were performed.

Results: The average age of patients was 31.16 years (SD = 15.17 years) and average hospitalization was 6.32 days (SD = 7.75 days). It was verified the automatic formation of four clusters with different profiles of patients. The variables which most contributed to the external differentiation between clusters were: length of stay in a hospital (p <0.001), etiology (p <0.001), type of facial trauma (p <0.001), presence of associated trauma (p <0.001), treatment modalities (p <0.001) and quarter of care (p <0.001).

Conclusion: The most of patients were men, victims of traffic accidents, which suffered fracture of zygomatic complex and underwent surgery.