Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of craniofacial soft tissue injuries in a plastic emergency department in Xi’an, China: a retrospective study of 22887 patients from 2019 to 2023

Abstract

Objective

This study aims to describe the epidemiological features of craniofacial soft tissue injuries in a major plastic emergency department in northwest China.

Methods

A retrospective review of emergency medical records (2019-2023) was conducted for craniofacial soft tissue injury patients. Demographic and clinical data were collected and analyzed, stratified by age and with consideration of the COVID-19 period.

Results

A total of 22,887 patients with 24,050 craniofacial soft tissue injuries were included. The mean age was 13.46±15.52 years, with a male to female ratio of 1.57. Collisions were the primary cause of injury (86.5%), and contusion and laceration were the most common types of wounds (97.4%). The most frequent injury locations were the forehead (24.4%), chin (13.8%), cheeks (13.0%), and supercilium (12.3%). Peak visiting times were in April, May, June, September, and October during the year, on weekends during the week, and in the afternoon and evening during the day. The average time interval between injury and hospital visit was 6.17±5.68 hours, with a median time of 4 hours. Epidemiological characteristics were also described for different age subgroups (underage [0-17 years], working-age [18-65 years], elderly [≥65 years]) and within each underage subgroup (infant-toddler [0-2 years], preschool [3-5 years], primary school [6-11 years], secondary school [12-17 years]). The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decrease in the frequency of facial injuries and a change in hospital visiting pattern, but had no apparent influence on other epidemiological characteristics.

Conclusions

This study provides a detailed epidemiological description of craniofacial soft tissue injuries in a large single-center retrospective cohort. The findings can contribute to optimizing treatment strategies, resource allocation, and the development of public health policies.