Preventing Facial Injuries in Sports: A Preliminary Study on Sports-Related Facial Injuries in Malaysia

Introduction: Facial injury can occur during sports activity. Understanding of epidemiology of these injuries will improve our understanding and could help in preventing such injuries. We aim to explore the epidemiology of sports-related facial injuries. Methodology: This is part of a cross-sectional assessment of facial fractures among patients who have sustained facial soft tissue injury with Ethic Committee approval UKM PPI/111/8/JEP-2021-748. Subjects were recruited over a period of 10 months (from January 2022 until October 2022). Physical and radiographic examination were performed when indicated and findings were recorded. Results: A total of 190 patients sustained facial injuries during the study period. Among those, only 7 were sports related. The mean age was 28.3 ± 18.8 years involving six males and only one female. In each case, the injury was related to five different sports namely boxing, hockey, martial arts, football, and cycling. The majority of patients sustained the injury in the midfacial region, especially the periorbital area. Only one had a facial bone fracture. Discussion: The incidence of sports-related facial injuries is 3.7% in our series. The finding of few females involved in this series is probably due to the sports involvement in Malaysia are predominant by males. More strikingly, most injuries were sustained in the midfacial region especially the periorbital area which is the most exposed part of the face. Conclusion: Sport-related facial injuries are uncommon but when it occurs, it would most likely be involving the midfacial area and can be associated with facial bone fractures. This finding can be used as a targeted measure to prevent sports-related facial injuries.