[Fractures of the mandibular angle: factors predictive of infectious complications].
BACKGROUND
Fractures of the mandible angle raise the risk of infectious complications. We searched for factors predictive of these complications.


METHODS
We reviewed retrospective all cases of mandibular angle fracture treated during a 26-month period. We compared two groups: fractures with wisdom teeth and fractures without wisdom tooth. For each group we noted clinical and radiological characteristics of the fractures and infectious complications.


RESULTS
The series included 72 mandibular angle fractures, 30 with a wisdom tooth against 42 without. Most of the patients were treated within 2 days, generally using mini-plate screw fixation. In the wisdom tooth group, 16.6% of patients developed infectious complications versus 9.5% in the without wisdom tooth group. All patients of the wisdom tooth group presented a potentially infectious focus on the preoperative x-rays. For without wisdom tooth group, irregular follow-up was found to be the only risk factor.


CONCLUSIONS
The angular localization increases the risk of infectious complications especially if the wisdom tooth is in the fracture. We propose a decision tree to determine when to preserve or not the wisdom tooth.
Service de Chirurgie Maxillo-Faciale, CHU A. Michallon, BP 217, 38043 Grenoble Cedex 9.
E
E
Soriano
V
V
Kankou
B
B
Morand
H
H
Sadek
B
B
Raphaël
G
G
Bettega
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001860:Bone Plates; D001863:Bone Screws; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D005593:Fracture Fixation, Internal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008337:Mandibular Fractures / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology*; D013997:Time Factors