Maxillofacial trauma of equestrian origin: A retrospective study

Horse riding is a dangerous popular sport, it can causes facial traumas due to unpredictable reactions from the horse or falls. This study is a retrospective study about 20 patients. The aim of the study is analyze maxillofacial traumas with equine origin and discuss about prevention of those traumas. The admission period was from 2004 at 2021 and it takes place in emergency department of our university hospital in France. Inclusion criteria were patients who had suffered a maxillofacial trauma, admitted to the emergency department, and then to ENT and/or dentistry following an accident involving a horse. There were selected on the Health Data warehouse of our University Hospital. Thirty five medical files could be saved but 15 were not included because of the inclusion criteria. There were several studied parameters about patients: age, gender, date of injury, circumstances of injury, type of injury, management, helmet use, operative follow-up and possible sequelae. Patients were more women than men (16 versus 4), and there were young (half under 27 years old). There were more traumas in summer (80%). They concern most of the time ridder on foot (60%). 70% of the patients had at least one facial fracture. Only one case mentions helmet use. To conclude, horse riding can cause a various type of traumas. Treatments are various but sometimes surgery is necessary (only 7 of the 20 patients required just sutures). To avoid those traumas, the solution could be protective helmets, even when the ridder is on foot because in literature many of the traumas were due to lack of protective helmets.