OBJECTIVE

To determine the prevalence of nasal bone fractures (NBFs) using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The continuous study is devoted to prevalence, localization and sex-specific differences in NBFs based on a retrospective analysis of 1000 cone beam CT scans of patients who complained of the nose and paranasal sinuses disorder.

RESULTS

Radiographic signs of NBFs have been found in more than 43% of the examined patients, and significantly more frequently in men than in women. The differences between the isolated NBFs on the left were 32% higher than on the right, and variation amounted to 15% for the frontal processes of the maxilla. Significant differences in the frequency of external nose fractures depending on the sex have been found. This indicator amounted to 62% for nasal bones among men, and among women — 38%. Men also led among the fractures of the frontal processes of the maxilla: 78.5% of cases versus 21.5% in women.

CONCLUSION

The wide prevalence of NBFs (43% of cases at admission with complaints of the nose and paranasal sinuses disorder according to CBCT) should be considered in the examination of patients with pathology of the nose and paranasal sinuses.