The medical community has been heavily impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The management of facial trauma patients has been affected by the patient capacity of emergency rooms. In this study, we share our experiences of facial trauma management during the social lockdown period and investigate the epidemiological changes in facial bone fractures.

A total of 997 patients who presented to Ajou University Hospital Emergency Center and were evaluated by plastic or maxillofacial surgeons for facial trauma were included in this retrospective study. Our study design was a comparative study of two groups: the 2019 group (control) and the 2020 group (the experimental group that experienced social lockdown).

The total number of emergency room inpatients reflected the national pandemic trends with three peaks in patient numbers. According to these trends, facial bone fractures had two different low points in August 2020 and December 2020. A comparison of the 2019 and 2020 facial bone fractures did not show a statistically significant difference in the total number of patients. An analysis of the causes of trauma showed that domestic accidents increased in 2020 (30.92%; p<0.001). Among the anatomical sites of facial injury in surgical patients, the frontozygomatic complex fracture increased the most in 2020 (p=0.018). Facial injuries with two separate sites of injury or with three or more involved sites also showed a significant increase in 2020 (p<0.001).

We demonstrated that the incidence of facial trauma patients correlated with the incidence of patients presenting to the emergency department and that facial trauma is inextricably related to multi-trauma cases. Domestic accidents and facial trauma with multiple anatomically involved sites are increasing trends that need more attention.

We analyzed the characteristics and outcomes of patients with bicycle-related injuries at a regional trauma center in northern Gyeonggi Province as a first step toward the development of improved prevention measures and treatments.

The records of 239 patients who were injured in different types of bicycle-related accidents and transported to a single regional trauma center between January 2017 and December 2018 were examined. This retrospective single-center study used data from the Korea Trauma Database.

In total, 239 patients experienced bicycle-related accidents, most of whom were males (204, 85.4%), and 46.9% of the accidents were on roads for automobiles. Forty patients (16.7%) had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 16 or more. There were 125 patients (52.3%) with head/neck/face injuries, 97 patients (40.6%) with injuries to the extremities, 59 patients (24.7%) with chest injuries, and 21 patients (8.8%) with abdominal injuries. Patients who had head/neck/face injuries and an Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS) ≥3 were more likely to experience severe trauma (ISS ≥16). In addition, only 13 of 125 patients (10.4%) with head/neck/face injuries were wearing helmets, and patients with injuries in this region who were not wearing helmets had a 3.9-fold increased odds ratio of severe injury (AIS ≥2).

We suggest that comprehensive accident prevention measures, including safety training and expansion of safety facilities, should be implemented at the governmental level, and that helmet wearing should be more strictly enforced to prevent injuries to the head, neck, and face.

This study examined emergency medical service (EMS) transportation patterns for adult trauma patients before and after establishing a level 1 regional trauma center (RTC) and to evaluate the transportation approach after prehospital severity screening.

This was a retrospective observational study of trauma patients aged ≥18 years admitted via EMS to the emergency department or a level 1 RTC, 1 year before to 3 years after RTC establishment. Patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) in the patient registration system were selected. Analyses were performed to determine transportation pattern changes by comparing patients pre- and post-RTC establishment and by yearly comparisons over the 4-year study period using the Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test.

Overall, 3,587 patients were included. The mean ISS was higher in the post-RTC group (n=2,693; 10.63±8.90, median 9.00) than in the pre-RTC group (n=894; 9.44±8.20, median 8.00; p<0.001). The mean transportation distance (9.84±13.71, median 5.80 vs. 13.12±16.15 km, median 6.00; p<0.001) was longer in the post-RTC group than in the pre-RTC group. Furthermore, proportionally fewer patients were transported from an area in the same city as the RTC after establishment (86.1% vs. 78.3%; p<0.001). Yearly comparisons revealed a gradually increasing trend in the hospital death rate (p_trend=0.031).

After establishing a level 1 RTC, the EMS transportation of severe trauma patients increased gradually along with the long-distance transportation of minor trauma patients. Therefore, improved prehospital EMS trauma severity assessments and level 1 RTC involvement in patient classification in the prehospital phase are necessary.

The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and characteristics of associated injuries in patients with spine trauma.

Data of 3,920 consecutive patients admitted to a regional trauma center during a 3-year period were analyzed retrospectively.

Of the 3,920 patients who were admitted to the trauma center during the 3-year study period, 389 (9.9%) had major spinal injuries. Among these 389 patients, 303 (77.9%) had associated injuries outside the spine. The most common body region of associated injuries was the extremities or pelvis (194 cases, 49.4%), followed by the chest (154 cases, 39.6%) and face (127 cases, 32.6%). Of these 303 patients, 149 (64%) had associated injuries that required surgical treatment such as laparotomy or internal fixation. Associated injuries were more common in patients with lumbar injuries (93.3%) or multiple spinal injuries (100%) than in those with lower cervical injuries (67.4%). There was a significant correlation between the location of the spinal injury and the body region of the associated injury. However, distant associated injuries were also common.

Associated injuries were very common in spinal injury patients. Based on demographic groups, the trauma mechanism, and the location of spinal injury, an associated injury should be suspected until proven otherwise. Using a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to treat trauma victims is of the paramount importance.