How Much Weight Loss Can Be Expected After Treating Mandibular Fractures?

Purpose: Surgeons treating facial trauma are faced with a dilemma: Fracture healing requires a tremendous energy expenditure, yet the treatments for mandibular fractures commonly include dietary limitations. Despite this, almost no studies have attempted to quantify the effect of fracture treatments on patient weight. The purposes of this study were to quantify the effect that mandibular fractures and their treatment have on a patient's weight and to identify risk factors associated with an increased change in weight.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was designed. The patients were considered eligible for inclusion if they sustained a mandibular fracture and had at least 1 follow-up visit within 4 weeks after the fracture from August 1, 2012, to April 30, 2015. The study variables were time since presentation, age, gender, open versus closed treatment, and trauma intensive care unit (TICU) stay. The outcome variable of interest was the percentage weight change from baseline. A linear mixed model was used to analyze the data.

Results: A total of 439 patients met the inclusion criteria during the study period. In the final linear mixed model, TICU stay had a significant effect whereas open versus closed treatment did not have a significant effect. The final model predicted a peak weight loss of 4.9% of the initial body weight by day 49. For patients admitted to the TICU, the peak weight loss was 8.8%.

Conclusions: During the course of treatment of mandibular fractures, patients lost an average of almost 5% of their body weight. Closed reduction was not associated with an increased change in weight; however, a stay in the TICU was associated with an increase in weight loss. Further studies will be directed at correlating declining weight with outcomes.