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This study aims to determine patient forehead aesthetics satisfaction after conservative treatment of non-dislocated and dislocated anterior wall frontal sinus fractures. Prospectively, patients older than 15 years of age with a frontal sinus fracture, treated conservatively between the period of 2010-2020, were analysed. The Face-Q questionnaire was used to assess patient satisfaction, and the fracture dimensional properties were measured using computed tomography. The results were compared with a matched non-fractured control group. The mean total Face-Q questionnaire score was 114.77 (SD = 17.38) versus 114.23 (SD = 15.23) (research-versus control group, respectively), with a mean difference of 0.55 (SD = 4.85), which was not significant (p = 0.91). The size of impression area did not appear to have a linear relationship with patient satisfaction within the entire population (p = 0.87; r = 0.00). Presence of a scar in the fracture site was a significant predictor of patient satisfaction, contributing to 31% of the entire population's overall score (p = 0.01) and 57% in the dislocated fracture population (p = 0.003). The conservatively treated patients' satisfaction score was comparable to the control group. A higher satisfaction score after a conservative treatment is associated with the absence of a scar on the fracture site, even with dislocations up to 6 mm at the deepest impression point., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None. All authors have viewed and agreed to the submission of the manuscript., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The clinical finite element analysis (FEA) application in maxillofacial surgery for mandibular fracture is limited due to the lack of a validated FEA model. Therefore, this study aims to develop a validated FEA model for mandibular fracture treatment, by assessing non-comminuted mandibular fracture fixation. FEA models were created for mandibles with single simple symphysis, parasymphysis, and angle fractures; fixated with 2.0 mm 4-hole titanium miniplates located at three different configurations with clinically known differences in stability, namely: superior border, inferior border, and two plate combinations. The FEA models were validated with series of Synbone polymeric mandible mechanical testing (PMMT) using a mechanical test bench with an identical test set-up. The first outcome was that the current understanding of stable simple mandibular fracture fixation was reproducible in both the FEA and PMMT. Optimal fracture stability was achieved with the two plate combination, followed by superior border, and then inferior border plating. Second, the FEA and the PMMT findings were consistent and comparable (a total displacement difference of 1.13 mm). In conclusion, the FEA and the PMMT outcomes were similar, and hence suitable for simple mandibular fracture treatment analyses. The FEA model can possibly be applied for non-routine complex mandibular fracture management., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Several biomechanical/cadaver studies have established a correlation between mechanism of injury and fracture classification in calcaneal fractures. However, this has never been backed up by clinical studies. In this study, the hypothesis is tested whether the alleged similar mechanism of injury for both feet in bilateral calcaneal fractures leads to similar fracture types. In this retrospective cross-sectional cohort study, patients with unilateral and bilateral calcaneal fractures treated between 2000 and 2017 were classified according to Essex-Lopresti and Sanders. Positive predictive values were computed, signifying the chance that the fracture type in the left foot corresponded to that in the right foot. These were compared to the a priori chance of a fracture type (percentage of fracture type in unilateral fractures) by constructing 95% confidence intervals of the positive predictive value of each fracture type. Of the 451 patients, 413 (91.6%) had unilateral and 38 (8.4%) bilateral calcaneal fractures. Mechanisms of injury were similar for uni- and bilateral fractures. Using the Essex-Lopresti fracture classification, 34 cases (90%) had the same classification in both feet, compared with 24 (63%) in the Sanders classification. The chance of a fracture type in the left, with the right foot as reference, was significantly larger than expected from a priori chance in the unilateral population. This leads to a new hypothesis, that, more than mechanism of injury, the magnitude of the impact and the position of the foot are important in predicting fracture classification in the calcaneus., (Copyright © 2020 the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)