Bilateral Condylar Fractures Registry

Fractures of the condyles occur in around one third of patients sustaining a mandibular fracture. Bilateral fractures are reported in around one fifth to one third of all fractures of the mandibular condyles and are often combined with other fractures of the mandible or facial skeleton. The treatment of condylar fractures, and in particular of bilateral condylar fractures (BCFx), is complex due to many different fracture patterns, surgeon's preferences, local constraints of the health care system and patient characteristics. Briefly, BCFx can be treated using either closed treatment (CTx) (e.g. intermaxillary fixation \[IMF\] and/or functional therapy) or surgical treatment (i.e. open reduction and internal fixation \[ORIF\]) in both fractures, or a combination of closed treatment and ORIF. The relationship of these treatments with the final outcome remains elusive, since the available literature does not report specific data for patients sustaining BCFx and has ignored or inadequately reported patient-reported outcomes. Consequently there is a lack of clinical evidence to assist the decision-making process. Therefore, the purpose of this registry is to collect data in a standardized manner regarding the treatment, the clinical and the patient-oriented outcomes, and the complications of BCFx.