Drivers may want to be extra careful navigating the roads when they have precious cargo, as a new study suggests that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of facial fractures in children. Published in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS), car crashes were responsible for 21 percent of child facial fractures.
In the study, the average age of children suffering from facial injuries was 10.7 years old and 69 percent of the victims were male. Orbital fractures, which are injuries in and around the eye socket, were the most common.
In terms of age group, children ages 6 to 11 had the highest instances of car crash-related facial fractures, as this was the leading cause of their injuries.
While not all crashes are preventable, there are some precautions that car owners can take. Keeping up on auto maintenance such as tire replacement may help avoid a situation in which a tire blows out, causing the car to go out of control and crash.